The Dragon's Orb
by HeyKoolAid
Summary: Things don't ever go right for Zack Scott. After meeting a member of the Ten Wise Men, things begin to mysteriously appear and people from different "Realms" begin to appear. When his parents go missing, Zack must find out who the culprit is.
1. Moldy Jello

**Author's Note:** _Hello and welcome to The Dragon's Orb! This story has been posted on FanFiction many times before, but each time I've taken it off for editing and this time around, I made MAJOR changes to the story. For those who never came across this, you won't know the difference. As for those who have read it before, will notice the changes right away. I will be updating my profile page to add a little bit of information about the stories, so keep an eye out! Don't have anything else to ramble on about, so here is teh story! (And yes, I spelled "teh" the wrong way on purpose!)_

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_**The Dragon's Orb**_

By HeyKoolAid

_Moldy Jello_

As he ran around a corner, Zack paused for a minute, only to take in the sight: a long hallway with no end. Catching his breath, he chanced a glance over his shoulder, wondering where the beast was. There was nothing behind him, but darkness. He shook his head and it took him a moment to realize that the hallway was darkened. He let out a loud groan and continued on through the dark hallway.

For two endless minutes, Zack ran. Each step he took, he could feel his sides protesting. He stopped again to catch his breath. He reached out to lean against the wall, but felt nothing and ended up falling to the ground. His body ached with pain and he could do nothing but lay there as the darkness closed around him.

Zack could sense something getting closer; the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end. Shaking with anxiety, Zack managed to stand up. Maybe there wasn't anything following him and it was all his imagination. No, something was definitely there, as he could hear it breathing heavily behind him. Now feeling light-headed, Zack staggered forward. Then, as if someone had lifted a blanket, the darkness suddenly lifted and Zack, surrounded by light, turned around. The beast bared its teeth and let out a hellish snarl.

Zack didn't even hear himself scream. Instead, he could hear someone else yelling.

It was distant, but he could hear something calling his name. But who could be yelling at him? Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder and he jumped up.

"Zack! Wake up! You're going to be late for school!"

Zack squinted at the clock and barely made out the time. He had half an hour.

"Oh, leave me alone, Lilly…I don't even have time for a shower," Zack said, rubbing his eyes. He reached over to his nightstand and picked up his watch.

"Not my fault," Lilly replied. "Mum's going to be pissed!"

"What else is new?" Zack asked, squinting at his sister. He managed to pull himself out of bed. "What are doing in my room anyway?"

"What do you think? I'm just trying to look after you."

Zack groaned and shooed his little sister away. It was a Monday – one of several days Zack loathed, mainly because he slept in a little too late today. He didn't care. He pulled the sheets off and jumped out of bed. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to get it to spike, but all he managed to do was make it more of a mess. The back was sticking up. Picking up a shirt off the floor and a pair of pants hanging off the back of his desk chair, Zack quickly dressed and slipped into an old pair of sneakers. He ran into the bathroom to tidy up his hair and brush his teeth.

"Are you ready yet?!" came an impatient voice from downstairs.

Zack groaned again. As if being the oldest of four siblings was bad enough. He had to be a role model for his younger siblings. His parents gave up on that idea along time ago, because he stopped trying, but deep down, Zack tries to look after his brother and sisters. Lilly, short for Lillyanna, is the youngest of the four, while Jacob and Emma are stuck in the middle as twins. All four children have their father's black hair, and Zack and Jacob have their mother's blue eyes, while Emma and Lilly have their father's brown eyes.

Zack bent down to tuck his shoelaces in his shoes. His dream was bothering him. He couldn't figure out what it was that had been chasing him. He shook his head, trying to rid the images from his mind. He grabbed his backpack and the keys to his car and ran downstairs. "Let's go, Lilly!" he called out as he walked straight out of the front door.

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Spring wasn't one of Zack's favorite times of the year. In fact, it was around this time that he usually caught a cold. It was lunch time and Zack was standing in the lunch line. Every day felt like Groundhogs day; he was doing the same thing every day. But the more he thought about it, today was different: he woke up later than usual. He sneezed suddenly, and made the kid in front of him jump and glare at him. Zack shrugged apologetically.

He leaned up against the wall and waited. Usually he would've cut in line, but his instinct told him he better not do so today. Minutes passed as he waited, and before realizing it, he was at the end of the line. With a sigh, he hopped in line just as one of his friends came through the door.

"Hey, Zack, how's it going?" the boy asked, strolling through the door.

This was Justin, Zack's best friend. The two knew each other since grade school, and they both have helped each other throughout the years.

"Seems to be a good day today," Justin continued on, trying to keep the mood pleasant. He stroked his beard. "Did you sleep in again today?"

Zack raised an eyebrow. "How'd you figure?"

Justin ran a hand through his curly brown hair, which always seemed untidy. "When you didn't show for English this morning."

Zack looked at Justin, the expression on his face almost a smile. "It's just English," he said with a snort. "I can get the assignment later."

They moved up to in the lunch line and showed the lunch lady their school ID cards. "Man, I'm just looking out for you, that's all," Justin said. "Why you always act so cold?"

Zack shook his head. "Sorry," he said as he turned around and continued up the line to get his food. "It's just my little sister woke me up this morning." He paused as he thought about his dream. "Good thing too, I was having a nightmare."

Justin stared at him for a moment. "What?"

Zack shrugged. "I dunno. I can't get it out of my head."

"Well, what was it about?" Justin asked. "It wasn't another one of those dreams you thought you were someone else, was it? You know the ones I'm talking about."

"Good question," Zack said as the lunch lady slapped an unknown substance on his plate. He took one good look at it and grimaced. "What is that?"

"It's jello," the lunch lady said with a demented grin. "Enjoy it."

"Thanks a lot," he mumbled and then headed over to the tables. Justin soon followed him and sat down across from him.

Zack stared down at his plate. The unknown substance on his plate was now starting to look like moldy jello. "Okay, so, I know these other dreams are about me being this other guy and doing all sorts of crazy stunts," he began. He paused when he noticed Justin began shoveling the moldy jello into his mouth. "…but this one just seemed more…real."

Justin took a moment to swallow his food and then took a gulp of milk. "Real, huh? How real?" He adjusted his glasses and took another gulp of milk. "Hey, that jello isn't so bad! If you don't want yours, I'll take it!"

Zack stared at him in disbelief and shook his head. "Dude, I thought you were on a diet, fatty."

Justin glared at Zack. "Shut up," he said, his eyes narrowed. "I don't need you to tell me what I can and can't eat. Now, are you going to eat that or not?"

"Okay, okay, fine," Zack said, shoving his jello towards Justin. "What do you think this stuff is made out of?"

Just as Zack shoved his jello towards Justin, it suddenly moved. Zack and Justin stared at it for a moment and then looked around to see if anyone was watching. Suddenly, a girl's scream alerted the two and they, with the rest of the cafeteria, looked to see what was wrong. The jello, or what was considered the jello-like-substance, was jumping from everyone's plates and moving all over the cafeteria.

Zack quickly jumped from his seat just as the jello jumped from the table and attached itself to his arm. He brushed it off without much trouble and everyone around him was trying to escape the now moving food.

"What the hell is going on?" Zack asked out loud, as he and several others ran from the cafeteria.

"I don't want to know," one boy said, looking back at the cafeteria. "But I don't think I wanna eat here again!"

"Let's get out of here before the jello decides to attack us," Zack said, heading out of the building.

Just as Zack was clear of the building of the building, his sister suddenly ran up to him, obviously escaping the horrible jello, as her hair was covered in moldy jello. "Hey, Zack, you all right? Crazy lunch today, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Emma," Zack replied, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "I knew there was a reason why I slept in today. Where's Jacob?"

Emma shook her head. "I don't know, he was with his friends again. Was there anyone with you?" she asked.

Zack looked around for a moment and then realized Justin wasn't with him. "Aw, crap…" Zack muttered.

"Who's still in there, Zack?" Emma asked.

Zack sighed. "Justin's still in there. I'm kinda scared to go back in, you know? My food never tried to kill me before!"

"Well, c'mon, someone's gotta help him."

"Uh, you gonna be okay going in there by yourself?" Zack asked Emma, who was heading towards the building.

"Don't be silly!" she said, grabbing Zack by the arm. "I'm not going in there by myself!"

Zack shook his head as Emma lead him back into the building. They stopped at the door that lead into the cafeteria. "So who are we looking for?" Emma asked.

"I told you, Justin is still in there," Zack simply said as he peered inside. "Oh boy, this is going to be fun."

Emma nudged Zack to the side and looked in. "What the hell? The place is all covered in jello! How are we going to find Justin in there?"

"Well, we can always assume he got out with the rest of us," Zack said, inching away from the door.

"We're gonna hafta go in there sooner or later, Zack," Emma said. She suddenly looked around and realized Zack was trying to leave the building. "And where do you think you're going?"

"I'm not going back in there!" Zack declared.

"C'mon, it's just jello! Are you afraid of jello?"

Zack paused for a moment. "Uh…uh…well, yeah, after what I seen happened, yes! I'm afraid of jello!"

At that moment, something jumped up and splattered against the window. Emma let out a scream as Zack rushed back over to help her. He quickly pulled her away from the door. "Okay, see? This type of jello likes to jump around and…uh…scare people."

"So you're just gonna leave one of your friends in there?" Emma asked.

"I see your point," Zack said a little guiltily. "Let's go in."

Zack slowly opened the door and they stepped inside. The whole cafeteria was covered in slimy, oozing, grey jello. Each step they took, they could feel the jello squishing beneath their feet. "God, it's like looking at boogers," Zack noted.

"Yea, nice, thanks for the info," Emma said, glaring at him. "And I suppose it probably tastes like boogers too; you should know, I've seen you picking your nose."

"Whoa, wait a second! I do NOT eat my boogers!" argued Zack.

"I didn't say you did!"

"That's just completely disgusting! Why would you ever say anything like that?!"

"I told you, I didn't say you ATE your boogers!" Emma shot back.

The next step Zack took, there was a loud noise and he nearly jumped six feet into the air and landed on his bottom. He struggled to get back to his feet and then realized the jello began covering his feet and arms. "Hey, a little help maybe?!"

Emma suddenly realized what was going on and rushed over to help. "Holy crap! This is getting too crazy!" The jello was already up to Zack's thighs and shoulders. "Hold on!" She wrapped her arm around Zack's neck and began pulling, in hopes to drag Zack out from the jello.

"You're choking me!" Zack managed to say.

"Shut up, I'm trying to help you!"

Suddenly, a huge figure covered in jello rose up in front of them. Emma stopped choking Zack as they stared in awe at the creature. It suddenly grabbed Zack by the shirt and yanked him out of the jello.

"Oh, thanks," Zack said. The creature nodded and then pulled Emma by the hair and headed for the door.

"Hey, let go of my hair!" protested Emma. "You know how long it takes to get it this way!? I spent almost an hour getting it perfect!"

"She's not lying either," added Zack.

They were outside the cafeteria now. The creature finally let go of Zack and he dropped to his bottom again. Emma was frantically looking for a mirror to redo her hair. Zack managed to stand up and faced the creature.

"Interesting. A creature made out of jello. Who could've thought it possible!"

"I thought you were afraid of jello?" Emma asked as she peered from around Zack.

The creature mumbled something. "I think he's trying to say something," Zack said.

"Oh, ya think? How do you know it's not a she?" Emma asked. She received a glare from Zack.

The creature's hand suddenly came up to it's face and made back-and-forth movements, as if wiping the jello from it's face. Suddenly, a human mouth appeared underneath the jello.

"I wouldn't exactly say I'm made out of jello," the creature said.

"Justin! How is that possible!?" Zack asked. "Wait, never mind, don't answer that. I should've known by how fat you are!"

"Shut up, Zack," Emma said, elbowing Zack in the ribs.

Justin finished wiping off his face. He looked fine, other than the fact that he was missing his glasses and the rest of his body was still covered in jello. "Didn't think anyone was coming back to find me."

Zack chuckled. "Are you kidding? I wouldn't leave my friends behind!"

"Actually, he was about to leave you in there," Emma said.

"You be quiet," Zack mumbled, shoving Emma away from him.

"Oh, shut up," she replied, pushing him back.

Justin laughed. "C'mon kids, let's go," he said. "I don't want to hang around much longer. I thought Zack's nightmares were bad enough."

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**A/N:** _Does anyone know why I can't seem to work this editor? Everything I underline won't seem to stay after I save! If someone has any ideas, let me know plz!_


	2. Just an Old Man

**Author's Note:** Here is chapter two, following the jello incident and the first appearance of "the old man".

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_**The Dragon's Orb**_

By HeyKoolAid

_Just an Old Man_

Zack and his siblings came home from school earlier than usual because of the jello incident. Zack and Emma came through the front door arguing about what happened at school. As for today, the topic happened to be about the jello incident.

"I can't believe you were going to leave Justin in that mess," Emma said, as she walked through the front door, followed by Zack.

"Well, how would you like to have your food attack you, huh? It's a very traumatic experience if you ask me!" Zack argued. "You heard Justin! He's going to have nightmares! I wouldn't be surprised if I did either!"

"Who's having nightmares?"

Emma turned around and put her hands on her hips. "Jacob, would you believe Zack would leave Justin in the cafeteria after being almost eaten by jello?"

Jacob paused on his way towards the staircase. "What? Eaten by jello?"

"They had jello for lunch today," Zack explained. "And it came alive."

Jacob raised an eyebrow, a trait he copied from Zack. "Wow, that's a new one. Why do you think I don't eat at the cafeteria anymore?"

"Whatever, Jacob, you cold hearted – "

"Hey, that's enough!" came a voice from the other room. "Why do you three always come home bickering?"

Zack scowled at his mom and then closed the front door. "It's what we do, mum," he replied.

"And don't give me those looks!"

"What looks?" Zack asked, heading towards the staircase. He pushed Jacob out of the way, who in turn, grabbed his arm and spun him around and was about to drop him to the floor before Emma intervened.

"Stop it, both of you!" she said, glaring at Zack.

Zack shook his head and sighed. He grabbed Jacob's arm and pushed him away again. "Try it again," he warned. "…and I'll break your arm."

"Zack, go to your room, now!" yelled Mrs. Scott. "You'll be lucky if you eat tonight!"

Zack headed up the staircase and into his room, where he slammed the door shut. "Think he'll be in there all night," Jacob said. He looked at his sister and his mother.

"Dinner at the usual time," Mrs. Scott said, glaring at Jacob. "However, there will be a guest here, so I suggest you curb your bad mood now."

"Yes, mother," Jacob mumbled as he headed upstairs to his room.

Mrs. Scott sighed, crossed her arms, and leaned against the wall. "Why are you the mature one?" she asked, looking at Emma.

Emma merely shrugged her shoulders in response. "Lilly will probably be home around regular time, seeing as her school probably didn't have the jello for lunch."

"I figured as much," Mrs. Scott replied with a heavy sigh. "I'm going back to my TV shows now. You better finish your homework, dear."

"Yes, mum," Emma said, heading towards her room.

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Dinner came quicker than usual, and Zack awoke with a start, after receiving a good slap to the face. He sat straight up in his bed and glared at his aggressor. "I'm gonna get you one of these days, Lilly!" he growled, and leaped at her.

Lilly easily dodged and watched Zack land face first on the floor. "Maybe not today," she said with a giggle and ran out of the room. "Dinner's ready by the way!"

Zack jumped up and ran after Lilly. The two headed downstairs, where the rest of the family and a guest were waiting. Zack came to a halt next to Jacob and the two exchanged confused glances. "Who is this?" Zack asked.

"This is Marsilio," explained their father. "Marsilio, these are our kids; Zack, the oldest, our twins, Jacob and Emma, and the youngest, Lillyanna."

"It's just Lilly, actually," Lilly said, with a nod. She glanced at Emma, who merely shrugged.

Marsilio bowed deeply. "Nice meeting you," he said. "I work with your father at the local science lab, although I am just a simple astrologer."

Zack raised his eyebrow. "_Simple huh?_" he thought to himself. "_Something about this guy isn't right."_ Zack estimated Marsilio was roughly in his fifties. His shoulder-length hair was gray and mangled as if it hadn't been washed in ages. "_How could Dad work with a guy like this?"_ What bothered Zack the most was his stare. He looked at Zack with such a piercing look, it made him think he was reading his mind.

"I've seen you somewhere before," Zack said suddenly. Marsilio gazed curiously at Zack, while his parents looked at him with confused looks. "I don't know where, but I know I've seen you somewhere."

"Well, it is a small town," Mrs. Scott stated with a nervous chuckle. "How about we have dinner now?"

"Ah, yes, of course," Marsilio said, nodding his head. "Might I have a word with you upstairs?" he asked Zack.

Zack looked curiously at Marsilio and then at his parents. "Well, we gotta finish setting up the table," Mr. Scott said, turning to the other three siblings. "So why don't we head into the dining room?"

Jacob, Emma, and Lilly eyed Zack curiously as they headed into the dining room. Mrs. Scott sighed and followed them in.

"Make it quick," Mr. Scott said to Marsilio. "If it's another one of your stupid predictions…" He stopped mid-sentence, shook his head, and then headed to the dining room.

Zack raised an eyebrow. "Predictions?" he asked curiously.

Marsilio motioned at the stairs. "Why don't we take this upstairs, hmm?"

"Whatever," Zack said as he led Marsilio upstairs. He paused when he reached the top and turned around to face Marsilio. "How do I know you?" he asked bluntly.

"Zack, believe it or not, you are destined to be something greater than what you are now," Marsilio replied.

"Oh great. I guess Dad was right…this is going to be another stupid prediction!"

Marsilio laughed. "Zack, something is going to happen to your world in a few days. You are the only one who can help stop it."

Zack stared at Marsilio with a blank look. "Umm…what are you talking about?"

"Three days from now, there will be a terrible storm. You will start to see things that won't make sense. Worlds will merge and people will disappear."

Zack continued staring at Marsilio with a blank look. Whatever this guy was, he was definitely crazy. "_Wonder what this guy has been taking?_" he wondered to himself as Marsilio continued talking. He raised his hand and Marsilio paused.

"Uh, excuse me, but are you just a simple astronomer?" Zack asked with a raised eyebrow. "Or are you just spitting out random bits of nonsense to scare me into thinking that I'm some powerful being that can save this world?"

The old man let out a chuckle. "Zack…you will find out in due time, my dear boy," Marsilio said. "And when that time comes, more questions will be answered."

Zack approached the old man. "You make no sense at all…old man," he said with a sneer. "You're just wasting my time."

"Look, just trust me. I know it's hard for you to believe right now, but you gotta trust me."

"Oh yeah…trust you. I just met you today, at least started talking to you anyway. And you just start spitting out nonsense. What the hell am I supposed to think?! You're a crazy old man! I think the looney bin will find their missing a patient!"

Marsilio sighed and scratched the back of his head. "All I ask for you is to trust me."

Zack laughed. "Didn't I already go over that? It's not going to happen!"

Marsilio shook his head. "How about if I just show you?" He held up his hand at Zack.

Zack laughed again. "Oh, big deal. What are you going to do, use the –" Before he could finish, an invisible force hit him in the chest and caused him to stagger backwards into the wall and slump to the floor. He shook his head and looked up at Marsilio. "What the _hell_ was that all about?!"

Marsilio picked up Zack by his shirt. "That is just a small taste of power of what's in store for you. All you need to do is practice using it in order to finish something for me."

"Oh really? And if I refuse?"

"You're in no position to bargain for your life. You belong to me now!" Marsilio placed the palm of his other hand on Zack's chest and it emitted a silver glow.

Whatever he was doing, it did not seem to burn Zack's skin, but once he released his hand, Zack looked down. His shirt now had a hand sized hole, but there was a mark on his skin.

"There, now you are a servant of Bane. You will not only listen to me, but to your god, Bane. Now, go put on a new shirt and come feast with us at the dinner table." Marsilio adjusted his clothes and calmly walked downstairs.

Zack was breathing heavily. He did not understand what just happened. He walked into his room and stood, facing the mirror, and stared at the mark on his chest. A black fist, and little green rays being squeezed from it. He didn't feel any different. All he had was a tattoo on his chest and a really weird one at that.

"This is gonna change things," he said to himself as he put on a new shirt and threw the old one away. With a sigh, he headed downstairs for dinner, going over the things Marsilio just spat at him.


	3. Sibling Rivalry

**Author's Note: **_Still working on updating the story, here's chapter 3.

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_**The Dragon's Orb**_

By HeyKoolAid

_Sibling Rivalry_

Zack was inattentive the next day, and the first few classes before lunch flew by. When the bell rang for lunch, Zack picked up his books and stuffed them into his backpack.

There were so many questions buzzing around Zack's head during lunch that he wasn't able to enjoy his meal. After throwing his plate away, he went headed to the hallway to get his backpack and head to his next class. As he walked in, he was greeted by his friends.

"You know, sometimes I wonder why life is so complicated," Zack said. He looked at his friends, Justin, Cassie, and Andi.

"What's going on?" Justin asked. "Did something happen last night or…?"

"Uhh, not really," Zack replied, frowning. "Just a little argument with my brother, that's all."

"That's life for you, Zack," Andi said. "It happens to all of us. Me and my sister, Danielle, have our fights every now and then. In the long run though, we're still best friends."

Zack shook his head. "You make it seem so easy," he said, his hand slowly going to his chest. There was no pain, but he knew the tattoo was still there. Andi watched him with a funny look and Zack caught her eye. He quickly acted as if he was scratching his chin.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's nothing," Zack replied. Before he could be questioned further, he continued, "I'm gonna go grab my backpack from my locker." He quickly walked away from his friends and over to his locker to find his backpack. Justin walked over to him just as he opened it.

"Dude, what's wrong?" he asked. "You were acting a bit…weird."

"It's nothing," replied Zack, trying to dismiss the previous conversation. He bent down to dig through his locker. "How am I acting weird?"

"Well…" Justin started. He paused for a second, trying to find the right words. "Well, it's just you're not really that quiet around Andi. You've told us you like her and everything, why haven't you asked her out yet?"

Now, Zack was down on his hands and knees peering inside his locker. "Haha, that's what this conversation is about? And for a second there, I thought you were about to ask me about my-" Zack quickly shut up, realizing he may have said too much.

"About your what?"

By now, Zack's head was all the way in the locker. "Dammit, how could I lose that damn bag?"

Justin looked confused. "What are you talking about? You lost your bag? How do you manage something like that?"

Zack was halfway into his locker. "That's only half the problem! I'm stuck now!"

Before Justin had a chance to reply, someone suddenly bumped into Zack and he fell into the locker. Justin bent down and peered inside. There was no trace of Zack.

"Ummm...that's not good," he said nervously.

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Zack looked around. Everything had suddenly gotten cold. As he stood up, he realized he wasn't in the locker and he also realized that he wasn't at school anymore. "What the hell is this place?" he wondered aloud. He appeared to be in a forest of some sort and everything around him was white. "Winter was supposed to be over a long time ago."

As he walked forward, he could see tracks ahead of him. They led into a small clearing with a lamp post. Zack stared at the lamp post for a moment and then noticed a small black bag sitting at the base. "Well, that's one problem solved," Zack said as he picked up his backpack. He checked to make sure he had everything and after he did, he turned around and took a moment to take in the sights.

"This place really seems familiar for some reason," Zack mumbled to himself. He continued to examine his surroundings, but nothing was coming to him. With a frustrating sigh, he started back the way he came.

There was a small black hole where Zack had fallen through. He bent down to examine it and on the other side he could see the lockers across the hall from his. With a triumphant "Yes!" he threw his backpack into the hole. As he was about to crawl back through, a snowball came out of nowhere and hit him in the face.

Shaking his head, Zack stood up and looked around. There was no one around. He sighed and then bent back down again. This time, he was pelted two more times in the face. Zack stood up and suddenly, he could see the culprit in the distance. A small man, about half as tall as Zack, smiled meekly at Zack and waved. Zack snorted and returned the wave.

"Think you can help me?" the man asked. "I'm a bit lost."

"Umm…yea, about that. I can't really help you," Zack said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm going to be late for class, so if you wouldn't mind, stop throwing snowballs at me." He then bent down one last time and stuck his head through the hole and began crawling through his locker. Once on the other side, he turned around and saw a face looking back at him.

"Class?" he asked. "What kind of class are you taking?"

"Umm...art," Zack lied, grabbing his belongings from the locker. "I gotta go..."

The man sighed. "Fine if you must." He stood up and began walking away, and that's when Zack noticed the man's legs looked like deer feet.

"Hey! What happened to your legs?"

The man stopped and turned around. "I'm a fawn! What do you expect?" He frowned and shrugged his shoulders. He then turned back around and headed back towards the lamp post.

Zack shook his head and made sure he had all his belongings out of the locker. He then slammed it shut and sat in front of it for a while, pondering the whole situation. His concentration broke when his brother came around the corner.

"Zack, what are you doing on the ground, talking to your locker?" Jacob asked, a sneer appearing across his face.

"I...honestly have no idea," Zack said, still staring at the locker. He suddenly looked up at Jacob. "And why are you so caring all of a sudden?"

"Just wanted to know about…" Jacob paused. "Uhh...why are you covered in snow?"

Zack looked at himself and then stood up, brushing the snow off of him. "Uh, never mind that. What were you saying?"

Jacob eyed Zack very carefully as if he was hiding something. "Why has Marsilio taken an interest in you?"

Zack snorted. "Oh…that. You wanted to talk to me about him? Can't you save it until after school?"

Jacob grabbed Zack by the arm and dragged him into the bathroom where no one could overhear them. "What did he do?" he demanded.

"Chill out, Jake," Zack said sternly, pushing Jacob away from him. "I'm fine, he didn't do anything. We just had a lil talk."

"Oh yeah? About what?"

Zack walked over to the sink and glared at Jacob through the mirror. "None of your business," he said seriously. "If you really want to know, ask Marsilio yourself."

Jacob growled and pulled Zack away from the sink and threw him against the wall. "Dammit! Don't tell me he marked you too!"

Zack's eyes widened. How did he know about the mark? Did Marsilio tell him about it? And why was he being bullied by his little brother? "What do you know about the mark?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

Jacob suddenly pulled up his shirt, revealing the same mark Zack had on his chest. "You're not the only one, dude."

"Holy shit! What the hell?!" Zack was confused. Why was Marsilio going around marking his family?

"We're not the only ones, Zack," Jacob said. "Last period, I managed to catch a glimpse at a couple others with the same mark. A couple seniors."

Zack paused for a minute and looked at himself through the mirror past Jacob. Things were about to get weirder. "What is going on?"

Jacob shook his head. "I don't know, man, but I have a feeling they wanted something from me. They kept looking at me as if they wanted…I don't know…to kill me or something."

Zack laughed. "Kill you? Who would want to kill you?"

At that moment, a small, pudgy freshman entered the bathroom and the two brothers suddenly turned and glared at him. The freshman took one look at them and scurried away to avoid the wrath of the Scott brothers.

"Look, Zack, I'm pretty sure they're out to get me. I can't do this by myself."

Zack shook his head. "Oh, come on Jake…you know all seniors make fun of the freshman! Or scare 'em in one way or another. But kill? That's way outta hand!"

Jacob sighed and shook his head. "Really? My older brother is not going to help me? Fine…"

Zack shrugged his shoulders. "What do you want me to do? I mean…" He stopped mid-sentence as something tingled in the back of his head. The next few seconds happened so quickly, but to Zack, it was longer. Something told him to duck to the right. He saw it too: Jacob balled up his left fist and began to swing. Zack ducked to the right and his fist hit the wall, chunks flying out.

"Dude, that's a brick wall!" Zack said, quickly backing towards the exit. A fist sized hole was left where Zack's head once was. Jacob's hand was hardly scratched, something that Zack had noticed right away. He ducked out of the bathroom and into the hallway where everyone was still hanging out. "Ah, class hasn't started yet?" he asked a passerby.

"A few more minutes," the passerby said.

"_Not enough time,_" Zack thought to himself. He hurried over towards his friends, but his luck had run out. A hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. He caught the next punch with ease. "Back off, Jacob!" Zack growled, twisting his arm around.

Jacob succumbed to Zack, but just as his knees were about to buckle, Zack's grip loosened and he quickly yanked his arm out of his grip. He spun around so quick, Zack couldn't keep up and next thing he knew, Jacob grabbed him and threw him against the nearest lockers, denting them. Zack fell to the ground as several people screamed and others rushed in to stop the fight. He felt dazed and his right shoulder was dislocated.

"Give me a break," Zack said to himself. He looked up at Jacob. "You really want to start a fight NOW?" He pushed himself up off the ground with his one good arm. "Then let's go!"

"Hey, STOP you two!"

Two people suddenly stepped in front of them, Emma and Justin. "What the HELL is wrong with you two?!" Emma yelled. "You're embarrassing me!"

"Out of the way, Emma!" Zack yelled back. "This lil shit wants a fight and I won't back down!"

Justin held up a hand at Zack. "Zack, you're out of control, what the hell happened to you?!"

Zack sighed. "I don't know," he said. "I just know I have to do this!"

"Well if you want to fight, then do it at home!" Emma said. "Well, at least outside."

Jacob laughed. "Yeah Zack, what is wrong with you?" he chortled. "You seem…angry."

"Shut yer face!" Zack yelled. Emma suddenly turned around to face her twin.

"There's something wrong with you too!" she said. "What's going on around here?"

"Must be something in the water." Everyone turned to see who spoke. It was one of the seniors. "It seems Jacob and Zack are looking a bit pale, wouldn't you say?"

Jacob growled at the senior. "You stay out of this, Marcus! If you're so smart, you would know what's going on!"

Zack looked at Jacob curiously. This was the senior that's been bugging him? This guy was a joke! And now he wants to interfere in something that he doesn't involve him? He sighed heavily. "And who are you? What business do you have with Jacob?"

Marcus looked at Zack. "Oh, he owes me a little bit of money. For…quite a few lunches."

Zack suddenly settled down and frowned at Jacob. "Money? Lunch? You've been hanging out with this asshole?"

"You can't choose my friends for me," Jacob replied. He seemed to have settled down as well.

Zack shook his head and laughed. "Well, Jake, I take it that's the lil problem you've been having? Better get it fixed soon!"

"I'm going to class," Emma said, exasperatedly throwing her arms up in defeat. "I can't believe this fight was all about stupid lunch money!"

Marcus stopped Emma at the doorway. "You know, you can always have lunch with me…I won't charge you a thing," he said.

"You stay away from her!" Jacob growled as he and Zack moved threateningly at Marcus.

Marcus glared at the two and then turned and walked away. Zack and Jacob looked at each other, Zack raising one of his eyebrows. "Lunch money?"

"I'll tell you later," Jacob replied dolefully.


	4. Marsilio's Task

**Author's Note:** _Here's chapter 4. I've been updating my music on my iPod the past few days, so I haven't been around to do much editing...I think I'm done with five chapters, working on the sixth one now.

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_**The Dragon's Orb**_

By HeyKoolAid

_Marsilio's Task_

It wasn't until the next day when Zack noticed something unusual. The weather turned stormy overnight and lightning threatened to strike the school grounds. That was normal. What was unusual were the new faces Zack kept seeing around school. Whenever he saw someone he didn't recognize, he had to look again, but by the time he turned his head, he somehow missed them. At one time, he thought he saw someone with blonde, spiky hair, but he just assumed his eyes were playing tricks again.

It was lunch time and Zack had already eaten and returned his lunch tray. On his way to his locker, he bumped into another student. "Oh, sorry," the student said, in an obvious English voice. "Trying to find my way to class." He left Zack and turned a corner just a few feet ahead.

Zack watched the boy curiously and followed him up to the corner and peered around. As usual, the hallway was full of students relaxing after lunch and waiting for their next class. Zack could not find the English boy who bumped into him. Shaking his head, he walked over to his locker to find his backpack. As soon as Marcus pulled out his backpack, and started sweeping off the snow (which made everyone around him stare), Justin bounded right up to him and made Zack flinch.

"What are you so happy about?" Zack asked cautiously, eyeing Justin as if he was about to explode any minute. He was never this happy.

"Me and Cassie are going to a movie this weekend," he said, grinning widely. "Care to join us?"

Zack chuckled and threw his backpack over his shoulder. "Love to, but got other plans. Sorry."

Justin shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself. C'mon, we're gonna be late for class."

"But the bell hasn't even –" began Zack, but as soon as the words came out his mouth, the bell began buzzing. Zack let out a sigh. "Let's go."

It was at that moment that things seemed to go downhill. When Zack and Justin stepped outside, Emma came running up them. "Zack! Something's wrong with Jacob!"

"What'd he do this time?" Zack asked casually as he and Justin continued walked to their class.

"Remember that man Dad brought home from work?"

Zack stopped in his tracks and remember what Jacob showed him a couple days ago. "I'll catch up with you later, Justin," he said and Justin promptly walked off. He turned to Emma. "What's going on?"

Thunder boomed overhead, a little louder than usual and made everyone jump. Emma shook her head and continued. "Jake's with Marsilio, c'mon, it'd be easier if I showed you!"

Emma grabbed Zack by the arm and they ran in the opposite direction than where Zack needed to be for class. The bounded around a corner, sprinted down a long stretch next to the building, and then around another corner, and found Marsilio and Jacob together. Except Marsilio had Jacob pinned up against the wall. And he was holding him by the neck.

"Let him go!" Zack yelled across the field. He began running towards them, with Emma in tow. Marsilio suddenly turned. "You leave my family alone! We haven't done anything to you!"

"And you haven't done anything to me," Marsilio simply said. "I just wanted to make sure you understood who's in charge here."

"Zack, what's he talking about?" Emma asked.

"Oh, you haven't told them Zack?" Marsilio asked curiously.

"Shut up, old man," Zack growled. "Only you and Jacob know."

"It didn't hurt did it?" teased Marsilio. He let go of Jacob, and he fell to the ground. "You know I can easily make you all my slaves, but you, Zack, are special."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Emma asked. "Slaves? To you? You're kidding me right?"

"I'd be careful around this guy," Zack warned. "I don't want you to have to go through what we had to."

Jacob managed to stand up. "He's got Mom and Dad…" he said hoarsely.

Marsilio burst into laughter, but it was drowned out by the booming of thunder. "Hahaha! He didn't tell you? I made him a slave to the God, Bane! It means he can't disobey my orders, or Bane's!"

"Damn you!" Zack cursed. "What'd you do with our parents!?"

Marsilio ignored Zack's question and went on. "I'll give you an example! Zack, I want you to punch your brother in the stomach, and then take your sister's glasses and smash them on the sidewalk."

As soon as Marsilio finished his sentence, Zack felt a burning sensation on his chest. He screamed in agony and clutched at his chest. "What the hell are you doing?!" Zack yelled out, falling to his knees.

"Do it, Zack, I command you!"

"Fight it, Zack!" Emma said, bending down next to Zack. "Don't let this bastard control you!"

Jacob looked at Marsilio carefully. There was something odd about him. He noticed his outstretched hand, as if he was using a device to hurt Zack. Jacob quickly realized what he could be doing and launched himself at him. He grabbed his arm and twisted it. At the same time, Jacob elbowed him in the face and he staggered back.

The burning sensation in Zack's chest quit suddenly and he looked up, seeing Marsilio staggering backwards. He took this opportunity to rush him and push him up against the wall. "Old man! I suggest you don't underestimate me!" Zack growled.

"You'll regret this one day, Immortal!"

"Where's our parents?!"

Marsilio didn't say anything. Zack looked back at his brother and sister, who all looked concerned. He turned back to Marsilio, who was sneering. Zack grabbed his head and shoved it against the wall as hard as he could. Jacob gasped. Emma let out a frightened scream.

"Answer my question!" Zack demanded.

"Alright, fine!" Marsilio yelled out. "I'll tell you!" Zack let go of his head and backed away. "There's a different world out there. A far, different world than this one. That's where your parents are. But mind you, traveling to these worlds are not easy. You must have a small remote control device that lets you jump to different worlds, or use a Stargate. A Stargate is a lot easier, but seeing as most worlds don't have one, the remote control device will be much easier in your case."

Zack turned and looked at Jacob and Emma. Emma had a worried look on her face, but Jacob just nodded as he and Zack exchanged glances. "A different world you say? I think that's way out of our league here."

Marsilio nodded his head. "Exactly."

"Well, you better start producing remote controls or a Stargate, or else the three of us are gonna whoop somebody's butt," Zack said. Emma and Jacob looked at him curiously.

"Zack, how do we know he's telling the truth?" Emma asked.

"Yea, how do we know he didn't use his powers to hide them somewhere here on Earth?" Jacob asked.

"It's a risk we have to take," Zack said darkly. He turned to face Emma. "Unless you have plans for the rest of the day, I would like to suggest we find our parents…and whoever else he may have took with them."

"Alright then. How do we get off this world to these other worlds you speak of?" Jacob asked Marsilio.

"I'll be truthful. I do have a remote on me. And I can tell you your parents ARE in a different world and I am definitely telling the truth," Marsilio said. "But, for you three to go without any means of defending yourselves would be suicide."

Zack thought for a moment. Before he could say anything, Emma spoke up. "How do we go about doing that?"

Marsilio looked at Zack. "You all will learn your true abilities. Each and every one of you are different. Zack, for instance, is an Immortal. His powers will come to him soon. If it wasn't for me, then it'd be two years before he realizes his true potential."

Zack raised an eyebrow. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You will find out in time," Marsilio replied. "As for the rest of your siblings, once you venture outside this world, just like Zack, you will find out what you are all truly capable of."

The Scott siblings looked at each other with looks of awe. "This is really weird," Emma stated. "First he tries to attack us, and now he's being good to us. What's going on?"

"I'm just as confused as you are, Emma," Jacob said.

Emma shook her head. "Well, first of all, we're gonna need more people than just the three of us. And we'll have to bring Lilly with us, she can't stay home by herself."

Zack and Jacob laughed. "You're worried about Lilly being home by herself while our parents are out there being held hostage?" Zack asked. "Marsilio, where's this remote of yours at?" There was no answer. The three looked at the wall, but there was no sign of Marsilio. "Dammit, he got away!"

"He left something, look!" Emma pointed at an old, crumpled up piece of paper and a remote control. "Looks like he left the remote and some instructions hopefully."

Zack quickly grabbed the remote from and the paper. There were several symbols etched on the buttons and a red button in the middle. He then examined the piece of paper, which had the directions. "Ok. So what do we do now?"

The three stood around in a triangle, debating whether or not to use the remote control to find their friends. Zack examined the piece of paper with all the information on it, as if there was some way to decipher it. Without any luck, he groaned and handed the paper to Jacob.

"Alright, so say we do figure this thing out," began Emma. "And we do find ourselves in a different world. What do we do then?"

"I'm more concerned about the part where Marsilio said something about defending ourselves," Zack said. "And that stuff he went on about me being Immortal…what was that all about?"

"That's creepy in many ways," Jacob answered. "But I couldn't tell you what he meant by all that. I suggest we go to the library. I remember seeing a book on runes and symbols. Maybe I can figure this paper out in there."

"Wait…you? Library? When do you go to the library, Jake?" Zack asked curiously.

Jacob shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. Also, if you're gonna be Immortal, does that mean I will too, since we both have the same markings?"

Emma gave the two a confused look. "Markings? What'd he do, paint some symbol on your chest or something?"

"Something like that," Zack replied as him and Jacob pulled up their shirts to show Emma their marks.

"Oh, I see what you mean," Emma said with a look of disgust on her face. "Put your shirts down before anyone gets any ideas."

Zack pulled his shirt down and quickly said, "Alright, let's go find this book in the library."

The three headed to the library with Jacob in lead. When they reached the main area of the campus, something didn't seem right. Emma glanced around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They reached the library and as soon as they opened the door, a figure suddenly scampered out of sight. Everyone paused and looked at each other.

"What was that?" asked Jacob. He glanced back towards the area where the figure hid and back at his brother.

"Who knows," Zack said, moving into the library. He stopped in the middle and turned towards the main desk. "Where is everybody? The librarian isn't even here!"

Emma shrugged her shoulders. "Lunch maybe?"

Zack silently agreed and then slowly approached the hiding spot, a heavy dictionary in one hand. The corner was dimly lit and he could barely see the figure cowering in the corner. Zack slammed the book on the floor and the figure jumped. "C'mon, you big goof! Quit playing around!"

"You know you could be a bit more friendlier!" the figure yelled back.

Zack grabbed the figure by it's hair and dragged him out into the light. Everyone gasped when they saw who it was.

"Justin! Were you hiding from us?" Emma asked curiously. "And why are you scared?"

Justin picked himself off the floor and brushed off his clothes. "It's not everyday the school disappears like that. Trust me, if you saw what I saw, you'd be scared."

"And what exactly did you see?" Zack asked.

"Well, there was this man in a black cape. Long, flowing silver hair, and a sword as long as a…well, something. It was a pretty long ass sword."

Zack shook his head. "You were seeing things. And what did you mean by the school disappearing?"

Justin looked at Zack with a confused look. "You don't know? Here I am minding my own business on my way to class, when suddenly, everyone was gone! Everything gone quiet."

Jacob and Emma looked at each other. "Maybe our parents aren't the only ones Marsilio took," he said to her.

Zack groaned. "Are you kidding me? Anyway, we're looking for a book on runes and symbols. Think you can help us?"

Justin grinned. "Of course I can help you! I know exactly where I can find a book on that kind of stuff!" For as big as someone like Justin, he quickly disappeared in a row of books for about a minute and then returned with several books in his arms. "I just happened to be glancing at these right before you guys came in."

Jacob glanced at each book as Justin set them down on a table. Zack watched him as he picked up one book at a time, flip through it, put it back on the table, and pick up the next. Something didn't seem right.

"Not finding what you're looking for?" Zack asked.

"Not really," Jacob replied.

At that moment, they heard the door slam shut, and everyone grabbed a book to defend themselves with. As the figure came around the corner, Zack sighed and put his book down. "It's only Cassie and Andi…"

"Only?" Cassie said in a curious voice. "I should ask what you four are doing in the library?"

"Yeah, you should sound a little bit more grateful," Andi pointed out.

"We're doing school work," Jacob mumbled as he continued skimming through his book.

Cassie laughed and approached the four. "School work? That sure doesn't look like anything close to school work!"

"Hey, these books can teach you how to do magic!" Emma stated suddenly, as she opened up the book she had in her hands and flipped through the pages. "And all you have to do is draw the symbol in some dirt and something magical will happen!"

"Magic?" Andi asked, peering over her shoulder to get a closer look. "What are you guys really doing in here?"

"We're looking for something," Zack said. He turned to Jacob. "Find it, Jake?"

"Not yet…" came the reply. Jacob was now sitting down with several books piled in front of him and no one could see his face.

Justin bent over and picked up the remote control. "What is this thing?"

"Careful with that," Zack said, reaching out to grab the remote, but Justin pushed his hand out of the way.

"You're looking for information about this thing? I don't think you'll find any useful information about it in here."

"And how would you know?" Jacob asked, peering over his books. "You've been hiding in here the whole time!"

"Pssh, doesn't mean I don't know anything. Zack, the symbols on this remote remind me of that show called Stargate."

Zack pondered for a moment. He looked at the symbols on the piece of paper and then at the remote. "Oh yeah! That's right!" He shook his head as if trying to remove some mental fog. "That's why Marsilio said we need either that or a Stargate!"

"What's a Stargate?" Cassie asked. She was circling around the group and came to a stop over Jacob's shoulder to see what he was reading.

"So how does it work?" asked Jacob, ignoring Cassie.

"Well, on the show, they have these things called DHD's, meaning Dialing Home Devices. You pretty much punch in your world's address, using these symbols in a certain order, the Stargate activates, and then you have a passage to a different world!"

Zack finally grabbed the remote from Justin's hands. "Justin, why didn't you say so in the first place? It would've saved us a whole lot of time without you withholding information."

Justin looked at Zack dumbfounded. He raised his fist in anger, but Cassie, who looked up from Jacob's book in time, noticed this, and grabbed his arm and led him towards the computers, saying, "Hey look, Justin! Computers! What's that game you always play?"

Zack looked at the paper and then at the remote. "Alright, so now that we solved that, I guess we can try this thing out."

Emma closed her book and looked at Zack. Andi took a couple steps back. "Wouldn't hurt to try, but Zack…we still need to find Lilly. I'm not leaving her here alone."

Zack thought for a moment and then said, "How do we know she's not with mom and dad?"

"Look, I'll stay behind and look for her," Jacob suggested. "If you're worried about her, at least someone is back here looking for her."

"Uh, no I don't think so," Zack said at once. "You're coming with me. So is, Justin, Cassie, and Andi. Emma, you can stay."

Emma nodded her head. "Thank you, Zack."

"So, where should we go first?"

"How about just pushing some buttons?" suggested Andi.

Zack shrugged and began pushing the symbols. Once the seven symbols were entered in, he pushed the little red button in the middle. The remote control suddenly started vibrating and then two streams of blue light came out of the remote and formed a portal of blue light. Everything seemed calm and quiet. Zack quickly scribbled down the symbols he used.

"That's it?" Jacob asked. "I was expecting something more dramatic…like gusts of wind, maybe some lightning, and…"

"We don't have time for that, Jake," Zack interrupted. "We can add special effects later. Right now, we have people to save! Cassie, Justin, c'mon! We're leaving!"

Justin looked up from the computer. "Leaving? Where? I wanna come!"

"You are coming," Cassie said, grabbing Justin by the arm again and dragging him towards the portal. "That's it?" she asked, pointing at the portal.

"Apparently," Zack replied, shrugging. "Don't know where we're going, or what's in store for us." With that, everyone looked at each other and one by one, they jumped into the portal. Zack paused before he jumped in and turned to Emma. "You were always the mature one, sis," he said. He dug into his pocket and tossed her a set of keys.

"About time you noticed," she said, catching the keys. "You're gonna trust me with your car?"

Zack laughed. "No need for it right now. Go find Lilly and anybody else. Can't say when we'll be back for sure."

Emma headed for the door, paused, and then turned. "Keep an eye on Jake," she said. Zack nodded his head and jumped into the portal. A few seconds later, the portal disappeared and Emma was left standing in the library alone. "You better come back alive, dammit," she muttered to herself as she turned and left.


	5. Escape from Madness

**Author's Note:** _Well what do ya know...I'm doing two updates back-to-back. Here's chapter 5, with lots of action!

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_**The Dragon's Orb**_

By HeyKoolAid_**  
**_

_Escape from Madness_

"No one told me it was going to be that bumpy," Andi said, after everyone had come out of the portal. They were in the middle of a forest. "Where exactly are we anyway?"

"It would appear we are in a forest," Zack answered, glaring at Andi. "But I have no idea what Realm we're in!"

"Well, you did just hit random buttons," said Justin. Zack looked at him with a confused look, and then he added, "I heard Andi suggest it."

Zack shook his head. "Whatever. Now, how do we go about and make sure this is the right Realm?"

"How about if we just ask the locals?" Cassie suggested.

"Makes sense," Jacob said. "Although, might I also suggest that we make camp here? I'm afraid it's getting dark."

"Since when did you become the science officer?" Zack asked. Before Jacob could answer, Zack shook his head and continued. "Never mind that. Oh well…I guess we will just have to camp here for tonight. But…I have a feeling we're not alone."

"You always have a feeling that we're not alone," Justin said.

"I do?"

"No, I just felt like saying that."

Zack scowled at Justin. "Not funny."

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It took a few hours, but the group finally managed to round up enough wood to start a fire. Zack, Jacob, and Justin sat around the fire talking, while Cassie and Andi huddled around the book Emma was reading out of. Andi was drawing symbols in the dirt, with Cassie trying to explain how to do it.

"No, no, you have to have the arch perfect over the eye, or else it doesn't work!" Cassie said.

"How the hell do you do a perfect arch? Lemme see that book!" Andi said, and reached for the book.

Zack shook his head, listening to the two argue. He looked at Jacob and Justin, who both looked terribly bored. "Maybe we should've brought a deck of cards or something," Zack suggested, throwing a small piece of wood into the fire, which immediately ignited.

"Yea, we should've," agreed Jacob. "I think I might go to bed."

"Me too," Justin said. The two paused and looked around. "Uh…no tents…"

Zack sighed. "It's not a perfect world."

"There! Is that perfect enough for you, Cassie?!"

Before Cassie could answer, a loud 'POOF' noise erupted around them, making everyone jump. They looked in the direction where Cassie and Andi were sitting and a tent had magically appeared.

"What the _hell_ did you two do?!" Zack asked, examining the tent.

Andi and Cassie appeared from behind the tent. "Uh…I think I accidentally discovered something," Andi replied.

Justin and Jacob looked at each other and shook their heads. "I guess that book is real," Justin said. "You wanted to learn magic, didn't you Andi?"

"I didn't think it'd work," Andi replied.

Zack walked into the tent and looked around. From the outside, it looked like a normal tent, but on the inside, it was a miniature home. There was a living room, a small kitchen and dining room area, and a couple bedrooms. Enough for the five of them. Zack nodded his head and poked his head outside. "Looks like there's room for all of us in here," he said.

Curiously, the other four entered the tent and their jaws dropped in awe. "You did this, Andi?" Cassie asked. "I'm impressed!"

"I'm gonna study that book more!" Andi exclaimed, hugging the book like a teddy bear.

"I've had enough of this…I'm going to bed," Zack said to himself and headed for one of the bedrooms.

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When Zack woke up, he had a tingling sensation in his spine, and he immediately knew something was wrong. He sat up quickly, and suddenly realized the tent was missing, as well as everyone else at the camp. He quickly searched his pockets for the remote and was relieved to find it in his left cargo pocket. He put it back just as he heard something rustling nearby. He stood up as a figure appeared from the woods.

There was a moment of silence as the two studied each other. Zack wasn't sure what to expect. "What are _you_ doing here?" asked a confused Zack. This person was about the same age as Zack, if not, a year or two older. The boy was none other than Marcus, the one who was bullying Jacob for lunch money.

"I could ask _you_ the same thing, Zack."

"That's really none of your business," Zack said, as he continued to study Marcus. Short brown hair, brown eyes, glasses. He wore a normal looking t-shirt, a light jacket, some faded khakis, and a pair of hiking boots. Obviously the same Marcus from Earth, but how did he end up here?

"Really? And how do you propose that?"

Zack narrowed his eyes. "What, are you kidding? You're acting as if this forest is your territory!"

"Well, I've got news for you, Zack. This IS my territory!" Marcus suddenly reached into his jacket and pulled out a pistol. "And you're trespassing!"

Zack immediately held up his hands. "Whoa, man! I'm sorry, I didn't know this was your territory!"

"Really? Because everyone around here should know about it!" Marcus pointed the pistol at Zack's knee. "So, I'm going to give you to the count of ten to start running. After that, I'm going to start shooting. Got it?"

Zack hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should trust this person. He slowly began to walk backwards, but then got to thinking about what Marsilio was saying. He was Immortal. His powers would come sooner than they normally would. He thought of the tattoo, and at that moment, a burning sensation engulfed him and he began to scream.

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Jacob was awakened suddenly by the sound of a door slamming shut. He shot up from his bed, and looked around the small room. There was nothing exciting about the room: the bed he was sleeping on, the door, and a small desk with a candle burning. "What the heck is going on?" Jacob wondered quietly.

He jumped off the bed and suddenly, the door opened and a small green skinned creature entered. At the sight of the creature, Jacob nearly jumped. "What the _hell_ are you?!"

The creature looked up at Jacob. He had small, beady black eyes, a long, pointy nose, long ears, and crooked teeth. It was a strange sight for Jacob, as he never seen one of these creatures before. "I'm a goblin," the creature said, oddly enough, in a language Jacob could understand. "What else do you want from me?"

There was a moment of silence and then the goblin spoke again. "My name is Kzab Toothclaw. I am a goblin servant that serves the mighty and respectable Goblin King Norubz Darkfury."

Jacob paused for a moment, thinking if he should say something good or bad. "Ok," Jacob carefully said. "Is there a reason that I'm here?"

"Let's just say, I was told to lock you humans up in these cells. We are to interrogate you and find out why you were trespassing in the master's territory."

"Master? You mean the king?" Jacob asked.

"No! The Master every goblin must serve, including the king!"

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Ok…that is strange, but then again, I never met a bunch of goblins.

"Well, I'll be honored to be the first one you met," Toothclaw said, bowing low. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go tend to other needs the king wants me to do."

"What? That's it? Wait a minute!" Before Jacob had a chance to ask another question, a figure stepped out of the shadows and Jacob froze. "Wha? Who are you?!"

The figure simply nodded his head. "My name is none of your business. You will come with me."

Jacob shook his head. "What if I don't want to go?"

"You have no choice. Marcus wants information, and I'm going to get it from you one way or another. Seeing as you're not going to cooperate, I'm going to have to resort to other means of extracting the information."

Jacob raised his hands up in defense. "Whoa, wait a second! Marcus?! What's he doing here?!"

The figure cocked his head to the side. "That's none of your business." He approached Jacob while cracking his knuckles.

"Look, just tell him I'll get his money for him by next week! Promise!"

---------

That night, while sitting around in a cold bare room, Zack stared out the only window into the night sky. The full moon shone brightly and the town seemed to be deserted. He could only remember what happened to him out in the forest. After the tattoo burned his chest, he was taken to a small prison cell in the middle of a town. He was the first one in, followed by Justin, and then the two girls. There was no sign of Jacob.

"So, what are we going to do?" Justin asked, breaking the silence.

Zack shifted uncomfortably. He looked at the other three. "I don't want to leave Jacob out there. You'd think they'd throw him in here by now."

"Do you think his interrogation is going longer?" Andi asked.

Zack looked at her. "Don't know why. We all have the same story. What more do they want?"

As soon as Zack finished his sentence, a terrifying howl broke the midnight silence. Everyone stood up and looked out the window, trying to see what made that noise.

"What the hell was that?" Cassie asked.

Zack shook his head. "I don't know, Cassie. If Jacob is still out there, let's hope that whatever that was, it didn't get to him."

Andi grabbed Zack's hand. "Hey, Zack? You remember saying that you'll protect me?"

Zack looked at Andi. "Uh, no. When did I say that?"

Andi gave Zack an exasperated look. "What do you mean you don't remember?"

Zack shook his head and smiled. "Well, don't worry, Andi. Even if I don't remember, I will still protect you."

"Will you two stop it?" Justin asked angrily. "You're creeping me out."

"You feel left out Justin?" Cassie asked, grabbing his hand. "You know…"

"Not now, Cassie!" Zack said. "We've got company!" Everyone watched Zack as he peered into the shadows just as a figure walked into the light. He was dressed normally just like Zack and the others. "You're not Marsilio. Who the hell are you?"

The man shook his finger at Zack. "Now, now, watch your language. The name's Rob, and I can get you out of here in the blink of an eye!"

"Sounds like there's strings attached," Justin stated. "What's the deal?"

"Oh, there's no deal."

Zack thought for a minute and then said, "Are you some kind of a 'Q'?"

"Of course…not! I'm just some random person that'll appear every now and then to bug you!"

"What's a 'Q'?" asked Cassie.

"Just a letter of the alphabet," Zack muttered. "Look, mister, if you can get us out of here, fine. I'm more concerned about my brother, Jacob."

"Jacob, you say? I can tell you, he's not feeling like himself these days!"

"What? You've seen him?!" Zack asked anxiously.

"Yes, I've seen him. He's still out there somewhere."

"Well, if you can get us out of here, we want to go look for him!" Justin said.

"Out of here, hmm?" Rob asked, moving towards the door. He looked at it from many angles, and then suddenly turned to the group. "Where would you like to go? Korea? China? Canada?"

"We just want out!" Cassie yelled out. Everyone suddenly looked at her. She cast an angry glare back at them.

"Just get us from here to the outside of this wall," Zack said, indicating outside.

"Ah yes, of course...but where exactly? Mexico? Berlin? Egy-"

Zack suddenly lunged out to choke Rob. He got his hands around his neck and by that time, Rob suddenly disappeared.

"Hey, c'mon now, Zack! He could've been our only way out of this place," Andi said.

"Then you deal with him," Zack replied angrily. "Dumb bastard just wanted-"

"Watch your language, dumbass!" came a voice from out of nowhere. "You want outside your room? Fine!"

The next thing Zack knew, he was standing outside of the room in the bright moonlight. He looked around to find that the others were also transported out.

"That's freakin' weird," Justin said. "What do we do now?"

"Why don't we go find Jacob?" Cassie suggested.

They all looked at Zack. "Well, fearless leader, it's up to you now," Andi stated sarcastically. "How are we going to find Jacob?"

"I have an idea," Zack replied. "We just need to find Marcus."

"Marcus?" Justin asked. "You mean that cracker who's been bullying your brother for money?"

Zack gave Justin a weird look. "Cracker? Ugh, whatever. Anyway, he's our ticket to finding Jacob," he said, motioning for the others to follow him. With the full moon out and lighting the way, the group followed Zack into the empty town in hope of finding Jacob.

---------

Zack, Justin, Cassie, and Andi crept through the village silently, making sure to avoid direct light from the moon and keeping themselves clear from windows on nearby houses. There was a pungent smell in the air, and Zack had a bad feeling something went bad when Jacob was questioned. He could feel butterflies in his stomach. He stopped at a corner of an intersection for a moment and looked around.

"What's going on?" Justin asked.

Zack didn't answer at first. He put his hand on a nearby wall as if to support himself. "I have a bad feeling about this place," he said. He grimaced as pain surged through his chest.

"It's a town in a different world," Cassie said. "Of course you would have a bad feeling about this place. It's so run-down and almost in ruins! You wouldn't expect someone to live here."

Zack shook his head and kneeled down. "No, this is a different kind of bad feeling. Like déjà vu almost." He took a deep breath.

Andi knelt down next to him. "Are you alright, Zack? You look like you're out of breath."

Zack laughed. "Don't worry about me, Andi." He looked around the intersection. "Ok, if I were to look for Jacob, I would be anywhere that's not lit up with moonlight. So that means we should be checking those abandoned houses across the way." Zack pointed at a group of buildings across from them.

"I wonder whatever happened to this place," Justin wondered aloud. "I mean, run-down town, run-down houses…what ran this place down?"

"Don't hurt yourself thinking about that," Zack replied, standing up. "We'll need to split up, one group needs to take the South side, while the other comes in the East side."

"Sounds like a good plan, Zack, but one question…" Cassie started. "Which side is South and which side is East?"

Zack shrugged his shoulders. "You're right, Cassie, it sounds like a good plan. Just wanted to have a good idea for once."

"What about those steps that lead down?" Andi suggested, pointing at the end of the nearest building. "Looks like it could lead to a basement or something."

Zack squinted in the direction Andi was pointing. "Well, either way, we need to search those buildings. Good place to start. I have a funny feeling we might find something."

"Me and Andi will check out the basement," Cassie said, grabbing Andi by the arm and dragging her away. "We'll be back within the hour!" she called over her shoulder.

"I guess that leaves you and me with the front door," Zack said to Justin.

Justin nodded his head. "Lead on," he said.

---------

With a loud CRACK the front door burst open, falling off of it's hinges and landing on the floor, a billow of dust rising from the floor. Zack and Justin looked at each other with raised brows.

"I've always wanted to do that!" Justin said cheerfully.

"And with probably a little too much noise," Zack replied dully. He wanted to be as quiet as he could without alerting too much of the local population. "Just an FYI by the way. If you see Marcus or any of his goons, get yourself out of here as quickly as you can, ok?"

Justin nodded his head. "I'll try. Where should we start?"

Zack scanned the entrance way. The room inside was dark. The only source of light came from a beam of moonlight shining through the only window. Opposite of the window was a fireplace, which at one time would give the room it's light. Now littered with wood rotted by time, the fireplace looked ancient. A sofa sat in front of the fireplace, with a couple of chairs on each side of it. Large holes and bite marks riddled the furniture.

What caught Zack's eye was the grandfather clock sitting in the corner of the room, still ticking away. He slowly approached it, watching the weights swing back and forth.

"Somebody's been here recently," Zack said.

"You need to relax a bit, Zack," Justin said, examining the bite marks on the sofa. "You've been having bad feelings ever since we stepped through that portal."

"You need to remember that we're looking for MY brother," Zack hissed, spinning on his heels.

"I remember," Justin assured him. "Just…take it easy for a bit. I know we're in a new world and everything, but just try to enjoy it."

"You're enjoying this?" Zack asked. "Look, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. I'm cold, and I haven't had a good nights rest since…"

Justin eyed Zack carefully as he watched his hand go to his chest. "Since when?" he asked curiously.

"Now's not the time," Zack said, looking around for more clues. He walked towards the next room and peered inside. "Whoa! Justin, come look at this!"

Curiously, Justin followed Zack into the next room. "Something happened here!" he said. Empty ammo shells littered the floor. Zack picked one up and examined it.

"Well, I'm no expert on guns. How about you?" He handed the shell to Justin. Justin took the shell and examined it. He squinted. He turned it over many times in his hand. He blew on it, but no dust came off of it.

"Well, they're recent," Justin said with a shrug. "Other than that, all I can say is they might have come from a regular nine mil. Don't ask me how I know, 'cause I don't…but something tells me I'm right."

Zack scowled at Justin. "I hope you're not mocking me."

Justin grinned. "Couldn't help myself."

"Thought so," Zack muttered. He looked at the shell again. "Maybe you are right."

Justin walked across the room, examining the walls. "Hmm, there's no bullet holes in these walls. So, maybe they were shooting at something."

"Or somebody," Zack said. The two looked at each other.

A deafening roar echoed through the house, followed by screams that could only by Cassie and Andi. Without hesitation, Justin grabbed Zack by the arm and began hauling him through the house.

"Whoa, slow down for a moment, will ya?!" Zack cried out. "You're going to fast for me to see anything and it's too dark!"

"Trust me, Zack, there's gotta be stairs around here somewhere. We gotta help those two!" Justin replied.

"Just…let me go!" Zack used his other hand to free himself from Justin's death grip and then felt himself stagger forward. He could hear Justin's heavy footsteps in front of him stagger and then paused. Zack cocked his head to the side and then heard a loud noise, as if something was falling. "Justin?!" he cried out.

"I'm alright!" Justin called out. "Found the stairs!"

"Dammit, Justin, you scared the crap out of me!" Zack called back. "Can you see Cassie or Andi?!"

"There's no sign of them!"

"You can't be serious! Can you get back up here?!" There was no answer. Zack began to feel light headed and his heart started pounding. "Justin?!"

---------

Andi and Cassie managed to get the basement door opened and they peered inside.

"Gonna need a flashlight for this," Cassie said to herself.

"No kidding," Andi said. "Hey, look in that bag you put those books in. I put my flashlight in there."

Cassie slowly turned to Andi. "You actually packed a flashlight?"

Andi shrugged. "I found it in the tent?"

Cassie sighed and put the bag down. Shifting the books around, she finally managed to pull out a small maglite flashlight. "THIS was in the tent?"

"Don't ask," Andi said, grabbing the flashlight and shining it inside. There were shelves on either side of the room, littered with unspent ammo. The two looked at each other.

"I think we just found a stockpile of weapons," Cassie said. "This is interesting."

Andi walked into the room. "Pistols, machine guns…who would want to stock a whole bunch of guns in a basement? Who lives here?"

"That's a lot of questions, Andi," Cassie said, picking up a pistol. "If we ever find the owner, you can ask them."

There was a loud BANG and the two jumped. Andi shone her flashlight all over the room, trying to find the culprit of the noise. "What was that?" she asked, panting.

Cassie began backing up towards the basement door where they came in. "I dunno, Andi. This place is starting to give me the creeps."

Another loud BANG echoed through the basement. Andi's light landed on a door that looked bent up. She examined it for a moment and saw the door move as another BANG echoed in the room. Andi spun on her heels. "Let's get out of here!"

Before Andi could move, the door burst open and a loud roar erupted from the beast behind the door. Both Cassie and Andi let out a blood-curdling scream and ran out of the basement.

"What the hell was that?!" Cassie asked, trying not to look back.

"I don't know!" Andi replied. "C'mon, over here, behind this house!"

The two took cover behind another house, a few blocks from the one they were investigating. Andi pulled out the rune book and began madly flipping through it, trying to find something to protect them.

"There!" Cassie called out. "Stop, go back a couple pages! I saw something that looked like a bubble or something!"

Andi frantically turned the pages back, but in doing so, she accidentally ripped a page. "Oh crap!" she cursed. "What the hell! Is this the page?"

Cassie groaned. "Ugh, yeah it was! What do we do now?! Where's Zack and Justin?!"

"I don't think I can read this anymore," Andi said to herself, examining the page she ripped. "I can't draw it either!"

Cassie grabbed the book and ripped the rest of the page from it and shoved it into Andi's hands. "C'mon, let's go over there into some light and try it, ok?"

The two stepped out of their hiding spot, and as soon as they found light, a low growling was heard. The two slowly turned around and faced the creature that was following them.

Standing six feet tall and slightly slouching, the creature resembled a werewolf, with orange eyes, a long snout, and canine teeth. Scars riddled the creature's body, as if it had been shot several times. It's claws were a few inches long, but one claw on it's left hand looked as if it had been broke recently. It took a step towards Cassie and Andi, snarling and drooling.

"Quick, draw this damn thing as best as you could!" Cassie yelled at Andi.

Andi slowly looked at the ripped paper in her shaking hands. "I can do it," she reassured herself. "I can do it."

---------

Zack paused for a minute as he ran around a corner, only to take in the sight: a long, dark hallway with no end. He looked over his shoulder, half-expecting something to jump out and maul him. Then he heard it: a low, snarl. Zack looked around, trying to catching his breath, wondering where the beast was. The house was too dark for him to see anything. He shook his head to clear his mind of the recent memories. He let out a loud groan and continued on through the dark hallway.

For two endless minutes, Zack ran. Each step he took, he could feel his sides protesting. He stopped again to catch his breath. He reached out to lean against the wall, but felt nothing and ended up falling to the ground. His body ached with pain and he could do nothing but lay there as the darkness closed around him.

Zack could sense something getting closer; the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end. Shaking with anxiety, Zack managed to stand up. Maybe there wasn't anything following him and it was all his imagination. No, something was definitely there, as he could hear it breathing heavily behind him. Now feeling light-headed, Zack staggered forward. Then, as if someone had lifted a blanket, the darkness suddenly lifted and Zack, surrounded by light, turned around. The beast bared its teeth and let out a hellish snarl.

Zack held up his arms in defense and the beast grabbed him and threw him into the wall. As old as the wall was, it crumbled easily and Zack found himself in the first room him and Justin came across. He managed to pick himself up off the floor, surprised he wasn't dead yet. The grandfather clock slowly ticked away and soon, the heavy footsteps began approaching. Zack backed away towards the door when he saw the silhouette of the beast in the room.

There was a moment of silence as the two stared each other in the face. The beast resembled a werewolf. Zack seen these creatures in movies many times, and to see one up close was a bit traumatizing for him. He kept slowly creeping back towards the door, but not before screams were heard outside. The beast cocked it's head to the side and then let out a deafening roar. Zack took this time to turn and run outside, only to find Andi and Cassie face to face with another one of the beasts.

"Zack, help us!" Andi screamed. The two were trapped in some sort of bubble-shield that was protecting them from the werewolf creature.

"Hang on, Andi!" Zack yelled back. At the sound of his voice, the other werewolf suddenly looked up at him and bared it's teeth. "I must be crazy doing this," Zack muttered to himself. He began to sprint towards the creature.

The werewolf lost interest in the two girls and faced Zack. It roared at him, but didn't have time to react as Zack tackled it. The two rolled around for a second and then Zack managed to push it away and give it a good punch to the face. The werewolf yelped and backed away.

"Zack!" Cassie yelled out. Zack ignored her and focused on the werewolf. "Watch out for the other wolf!"

At "other wolf", Zack turned his head just in time to be tackled by the other werewolf that was chasing him. The two struggled for a minute as Zack tried to push it away. The werewolf reared it's head as if it was about to bite Zack, and just as it did, the other werewolf grabbed it by the neck and threw it off of Zack.

Zack scrambled away from the two werewolves, hoping the two wouldn't attack him at the same time. At this time, Zack noticed a difference in the two werewolves. One had shaggy hair, with dried blood from gunshot wounds all over it's body. It also had orange eyes. The one that was chasing him was more clean and had green eyes. Zack took this distraction as an opportunity to run over to Andi and Cassie.

"You two alright?" Zack asked, as he knelt down next to the two girls.

"We're fine," Andi replied, grabbing Zack and holding him. "Don't let those werewolves eat us!"

"You find anything in the house?" Cassie asked.

"Just a bunch of ammo shells," Zack replied. He grabbed the two by their arms and drug them towards the house. "C'mon, we'll take shelter as those two fight it out!"

"Don't think you'll be going anywhere." Zack stopped in his tracks and turned. A few yards away stood Marcus, pointing his pistol at the three. He was also accompanied by two other teenagers around the same age as them. "I think we've met before."

"Don't remind me," Zack replied. He pushed Andi and Cassie behind him.

"I don't know if you've met my trusty companions. This is Laura and Tanner."

Zack nodded his head at the other two. "Nice to meet you. What do you want from us this time?"

Marcus laughed. "Don't sound so happy now, Zack. I trust you are already trying to escape from the werewolves…no point in doing so now. I suppose you are trying to save your friend Jacob after all."

Zack scowled. "What did you do to Jacob?"

"Oh, I dunno. I, myself, didn't do anything," Marcus replied with a shrug. "However, it is possible somebody could've slipped something in his food…or water…"

"You son of a –" Zack tried to jump at Marcus, but Andi held him back. "Where is he, dammit!?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Marcus taunted. "You've been running from him all night! All of you!"

"The hell does that supposed to mean?!"

Andi yanked on Zack's arm hard enough for him to spin around. "Zack! He's been here the whole time!"

Zack stared at Andi curiously and then she pointed off in the distance. Jacob lay on the ground a few yards away. Bruises and welts were all over his body, as well as a few scratches on the face. Zack understood immediately what had happened.

"He's a…werewolf?" Zack muttered to himself. He looked at Jacob and then at Marcus. "How?"

"You should ask Carlos," Marcus replied with a smirk. "He's our werewolf expert." He lowered the pistol.

Zack eyed Marcus carefully. "But why would you do that to him?"

"You see, Zack…we've all met this man named Marsilio. He granted us special abilities that no one knows would ever dream of. In fact, we all agree with what he had to tell us."

"How do you know about Marsilio?" Zack asked curiously.

"He came to us a while ago. Told us about the god Bane and what he had to offer."

"I thought Marsilio worked with your dad, Zack," Cassie said, glancing at Zack.

Marcus looked at Cassie suspiciously. "His dad?" he said. He began to laugh. "Zack's dad is dead!"


	6. A Little Help

**Author's Note:** It's been a while since my last update. I'm in the middle of a move right now and it's tiring me out. Don't worry, I'm still working on the stories!

* * *

_**The Dragon's Orb**_

By HeyKoolAid_**  
**_

_A Little Help_

Zack seemed to stumble at the mention of his father's death. Andi kept a firm grip on his arm to keep him from falling. "My dad's dead?" he asked breathlessly. "What do you mean?"

Marcus crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't seem to understand, Zack. Your whole family is gone. Nobody knew Jacob. Your dad died several years ago, trying to save you and your mother from a house fire. After that, nobody has seen you two. Why'd you come back?"

Zack shook his head. Was this the same Marcus as the one back home? He looked at Marcus in the eye. "My dad is not dead. I saw him only a couple days ago."

"Zack, you're delusional!"

"I'm not the same Zack! And you're not the Marcus we know!"

There was a silence as the two stared at each other. Marcus had risen an eyebrow and Zack just scowled. Andi had let go of him once he calmed down enough. She noticed he was still shaking, either from anger or nervousness. She cast a glance at Cassie, who responded with a shrug. "What does Marsilio want with you guys?" Zack asked, changing the subject.

"He wants us to retrieve a piece of treasure he lost," Marcus replied. "He told us it may not be in the same…what was it…Realm as ours."

"So you know there are different Realms," Zack said.

"Yes…" Marcus paused mid-sentence. He seemed to be thinking hard about something and then his eyes lit up. "…so what you're saying is that you guys are from a different Realm?"

"More or less," said Andi.

Marcus nodded his head. "I see…well, Marsilio also said that if we ever meet others searching for his treasure…because, you know…it's like a big treasure hunt to him…he wanted them eliminated." He laughed and brought up his pistol. "Haha, and if that's the case, Zack…" He suddenly pointed the pistol at Andi. "…we'll see how well you can use your powers!"

Everything slowed down for Zack. He put up his arm to grab Marcus' arm and push it away, but it was too late and he pulled the trigger. Zack dodged the bullet miraculously, and watched it head straight at Andi. He spun around and slammed Marcus's arm, causing him to drop the gun. He then grabbed him by the head and threw him at his two friends, Tanner and Laura.

Zack stopped and began breathing normally again. Everything around him seemed to return to normal and he looked at Andi, who had her hands up, and surrounded by some kind of bubble. He smiled at her, but was tackled from the side. The two rolled around on the ground before he could figure out who it was.

Tanner, standing at about six foot three and weighing just over two hundred pounds, grabbed Zack by the shoulders and tossed him easily at the nearby house. Zack crashed through the walls, landing near the old grandfather clock again. Tanner began walking towards him, but Cassie jumped in front of him suddenly.

"You're not going anywhere," she said. Tanner stared at her with a raised eyebrow. Her hand suddenly crackled with tiny sparks, then suddenly erupted with bolts of lightning. She held out her hands towards Tanner and released the lightning.

Marcus pulled himself up, shaking his head. He saw Tanner get hit with the lightning bolt. He growled and took a couple steps towards Cassie, but a hand grabbed him and turned him around. "What the - ?!"

Justin smiled as he punched Marcus in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. "I don't think that'd be smart, Mr. Marcus," he commented.

"Justin!" Andi said. Her bubble had disappeared. "Where were you?"

"In there," Justin said, pointing at the house. "I heard all the commotion out here, so I decided to check it out. Where's Zack?"

"He got thrown in the house," Andi said, and she pointed at Tanner. "By that guy."

Justin nodded his head. "Of course, he's almost twice his size…" he mumbled. He looked down at Marcus, who began stirring. Justin grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him up. "You shouldn't mess with us," Justin said.

Marcus grumbled. "Just you wait…" he mumbled. He began fidgeting for something on his waist. Justin shook his head.

"You lookin' for this?" he asked, holding up Marcus' pistol. Marcus' eyes widened. "You shouldn't leave these lying around," Justin continued to say. "They might fall into the wrong hands."

"Hey you guys! Be careful, there's another one of them floating around here!"

Justin, Andi, and Cassie looked towards the house. Zack was crawling out of the hole and there was something different about him.

"What are you talking about?" Justin asked curiously.

"The girl! Uh…Laura I think her name is!" Zack yelled.

Justin caught movement in the corner of his eye and he aimed the pistol in the direction. He didn't see anything. He stared for a moment, and then Cassie yelled out his name. He turned around to see Laura standing in front of him with a look of disgust.

"You should be more careful," she hissed, grabbing Justin's arm, causing him to lose grip on Marcus' shirt. Marcus fell to the ground again, but this time, he crawled away as fast as he could. "Now give me the gun," Laura said, motioning for the pistol.

Justin gave her a sly smile. "This? You want this?" He suddenly tossed the gun up in the air. Laura let go of Justin and stared at the gun as it flew through the air. Justin took this time to head butt her and sent her staggering backwards.

"Cassie! A little help!" Justin called out, as he watched the gun fall towards the ground.

"On it!" Cassie yelled back, stepping towards Laura. Her hands suddenly began sparking and she let loose another volley of lightning. Laura was struck and she flew several feet. By this time, Justin caught the weapon and carefully took out the magazine. He looked up in time to see Laura unconscious on the ground.

"Holy shit, Cassie!" Justin exclaimed. "I didn't ask you to kill her!"

Cassie stared at the body lying on the ground. "Nah, I think she's out cold," she said with a wink.

At this moment, Zack finally managed to climb out of the house and examine the scene. In the distance, Jacob still lay on the ground where he was knocked unconscious. Tanner, the one who threw Zack into the house, lay close by with a burn mark on his arms. He was sitting up and trying to tend to his wounds. To Zack's left, Andi and Cassie, were standing around, looking for signs of Marcus. As Zack continued to survey the scene, he noticed a Laura's body lying close to Justin, who was holding a pistol.

"Shit," he mumbled to himself. He walked over to Cassie and put his hand on her shoulder. "She's not…?"

"No, she's not dead."

Zack felt relieved and stared off in the distance, but only for a few seconds. He noticed Justin managed to get a hold of Marcus again and was holding him up by his shirt. "Andi, you and Cassie get out of here. I think our time here is almost up."

"C'mon, Cassie," Andi said, motioning for Cassie to follow here and the two began walking towards the house.

Zack approached Justin and Marcus, who were arguing about something that caught Zack off guard. He quickly interrupted the two. "Hey! What's going on here?"

"We were just talking about WoW," Marcus said, causing Zack to raise an eyebrow.

"Look, I'm not interested in WoW," Zack replied. "Where's your buddy Carlos?"

Marcus shrugged his shoulders. "How should I know? By now, he's probably long gone. I don't keep tabs on those guys."

"Where would he have gone?"

"Probably looking for the Orb."

Zack glanced at Justin, who returned his glance with a shrug of his shoulders. "Orb? What is this Orb?"

Marcus laughed. "It's that treasure Marsilio asked me to look for. Said it contained his friends in it or something and wants us to break it open for him."

"To release his so called friends?" Zack asked.

Marcus nodded his head. There was a moment of silence as Zack thought it over. "What's in the Orb?"

"I just told you! It contains his friends! What did you expect, candy?!"

"Why you so eager to help him get his friends?" Justin asked. He finally let go of Marcus, but kept the pistol aimed at him just in case he tried to do something stupid.

Marcus shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. He gave me powers and I figured I can at least, you know, repay him by helping him out."

Zack scoffed. "That's no way to make new friends," he mumbled. He looked around at Laura and Tanner. "What do we do about them?"

Marcus followed Zack's gaze and flinched. "Ugh! What did that little b – "

Zack grabbed Marcus by the neck to make him shut up. "Don't insult MY friends while I'm here," he warned. He made sure Marcus understand who was in charge before he released his grip. "Now…" he continued. "…seeing as we have you as our prisoner, I suggest you tag along with us to find your buddy Carlos."

"What about them?" Justin asked, motioning towards Tanner and Laura.

Zack looked at Tanner, who finally put something on his burns. "They get to stay," he said. "Looks like whatever Cassie did to them hurt 'em pretty badly."

Marcus nodded his head. "Very well," he said with a sigh. "I only have one request, though…"

"No, not going to happen," Zack replied quickly.

"But you don't even know…!"

"I can't have you armed. Not even with a spoon. I can't endanger the lives of my friends."

"I won't even hurt you guys!"

Zack glared at Marcus. "Look," he said in a firm voice. "After what happened tonight, I can't trust you."

Marcus scowled at Zack and then Justin elbowed him. "Don't worry," he said with a wink. "I've got plenty of weapons with me." He opened up his trench coat to reveal several weapons hidden underneath. Both Marcus and Zack gawked at him.

"Where'd you get those?" they both asked at the same time.

"You let me worry about that," Justin said, winking again.

"And where'd you get that coat?" Zack asked.


	7. Relaxing at Costa Del Sol

**Author's Note: **My apologies for having the actual crossover begin so late. My only defense to that is, Marsilio, who is a character from Star Ocean 2, the reference of the Stargate, and the reference to Bane earlier. We shall see how the rest of the story goes I suppose.

* * *

_**The Dragon's Orb**_

By HeyKoolAid

_Relaxing at Costa Del Sol_

Cloud Strife sat in his lawn chair in the backyard of his villa, trying to get a tan. No matter how much he spent out in the sun at Costa Del Sol, he could never get a tan. He was so glad to have this much leisure time. Ever since he and everyone else defeated Sephiroth, he wanted to plan one big vacation all to himself.... but that's what he thought. He took a sip from his Kool-Aid drink. It was such a nice day.

"Hey Cloud! When the hell are you going to cook those freakin hamburgers!?"

Yet, everything wasn't going as planned. For some reason, Barret and the others invited themselves over for this week long vacation. Cloud shook his head and got up to check the hamburgers on the barbecue.

"They're almost done, Barret!" he yelled. "So quit your whining and shut up!"

He started flipping the burgers and purposely dropped Barret's onto the ground. He quickly picked it up and placed it back, hoping no one saw him. Cloud then turned to sit back down, but instead he found six people staring at him. He observed them closely, as they were carrying one as if he was unconscious.

"Can I help you guys?" Cloud asked, cautiously approaching the group, holding a spatula in defense.

A black haired boy approached Cloud. He was about the same height as Cloud and looked as if he was traveling for several days without much rest. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Hey, sir…we're a little lost and looking for a place to rest," he said. His voice sounded dry.

"Umm…" Cloud didn't say anything. He was unsure of how to deal with this situation. "Where'd you guys come from?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders and looked back at his friends. "That'll be kinda hard to explain, you see…"

At that moment, another boy around the same age, but a little taller, approached them and began talking. "Hey, Zack, why don't you get to the point, huh? We need a place to stay for the night, mister! We need food, water, showers…"

"Hold on a second!" Cloud objected. "You just can't come barging in like this! I need time to set something up! My friends are all here for a week long vacation!"

"So what? Kick them out!"

Zack turned to the other boy. "Marcus! Shut up! You're not making this any better! Get the hell back!"

"You're not making any better progress! I'm telling this guy what we need!" Marcus turned to Cloud. "Do you not know who I am?"

Cloud sighed and raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm guessing you're just a bunch of teens needing a place to rest. Where the hell are you guys going? Gold Saucer?"

Zack and Marcus looked at each other. "Gold Saucer?" Zack asked. "What's that?"

Cloud laughed. "You've never heard of the Gold Saucer?"

"Apparently not," Marcus said dully. He shook his head sadly and returned to the group while Zack continued his conversation with Cloud.

"Have you seen anything unusual lately?" Zack asked. "We're looking for someone who's hurt one of our friends. Was wondering if you've seen him?"

Cloud shook his head. "Afraid not. Been here most of the time fixing up the villa. Who is this person you're looking for?"

"His name is Carlos. He's a werewolf."

"Werewolf? Haven't seen any of those around here…but come to think about it, there has been something strange going down by the old man's farm at nights. Strange killings."

"Cloud! I see you invited some guests! Why, that is so unlike you! I didn't know you had other friends!" As Cloud turned to talk to the other person, Zack motioned for the others to approach.

"I'm guessing we're here for some kind of barbecue?" Justin noted. "Who's hungry?"

Marcus opened the lid to the barbecue and sniffed the hamburgers. "Hmm, these smell good!" He then picked up Barret's burger and ate it in one bite. "Could use some seasoning..." He replaced the lid.

Andi stared at Marcus. "Wait…how did you…?"

Marcus shrugged his shoulders and grinned at Andi. "Don't ask," he said with a wink.

"Well, since you guys came unexpected…" Cloud started, eyeing each person carefully. "…and my friends are so nice, I'll let you stay. If it were up to me, I'd kick you out of here!"

"For a second, I thought you would do that," Zack said.

"Yeah, but I would at least refer you to the local inn," Cloud replied. He opened the lid on the barbeque and counted the hamburgers. "Wait a second…I'm missing one…" He eyed Marcus carefully.

"It wasn't me!" Marcus said. He pointed at Zack. "It was him!"

Zack didn't have a chance to reply as he was punched in the face. Justin had to carry him into the house, where they were greeted by Cloud's companions.

---------

Zack awoke with a headache and thought he had been drinking. He looked around the room and noticed an impossibly huge sword hanging up on the wall. It appeared he was in a room somewhere in Cloud's Villa, possibly Cloud's own room. He left the room and then made his way towards the living room. Sitting on the couch was Cassie, Andi, Jacob, and Marcus.

"Nice to have you back, Jacob," Zack said as he walked into the living room. He noticed Jacob was still bruised from his encounter with the other werewolf. "How ya feeling?"

Jacob groaned. "Ehh, never felt any worse than this," he said.

"Have a nice nap?" Marcus asked Zack.

Zack looked at Marcus with a confused look. "Sorta," he replied. "How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours. I think next time you should watch who's food you eat."

"Maybe you should watch your mouth!" Zack growled and started towards Marcus with a balled up fist. Andi leapt up off the couch and grabbed Zack.

"Outside," she said. Zack glared at her. "Now." Zack stared at Andi for a minute longer and then headed outside, leaving Marcus chuckling at him.

Zack let Andi out the door first, and then followed, making sure he slammed the door. "Andi, that guy is…"

"Look, I know he's pissing you off, Zack!" Andi cut in before Zack could say anymore. "Just don't let him get to you now. He's with us, and completely under our control. I have full confidence in Justin to keep him in check. Let him help us find this other guy, Carlos. According to him, Marsilio gave them a similar remote device so they could travel to different Realms as well."

"Yeah, and I don't like that idea," Zack said. He looked toward the horizon to see that the sun slowly dipping low. It would be night soon. "I don't think Carlos is here anyway. Cloud hasn't heard anything about a sudden werewolf appearance."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Andi asked. "Cassie is…well, I don't know…and Jacob is still injured from his werewolf battle."

"That leaves you, me, Justin, and…Marcus…"

Andi gave Zack a "I told you so" look. Zack groaned at the idea and shook his head. "This is a bad idea…"

"I think we should at least spend the night here," Andi said, changing the subject. "You know…just in case the monster at the old man's farm really is Carlos. Plus, we could use the break."

At that moment, Cloud's friend, Barret, came storming towards them. "I can't believe you ate my hamburger!" he yelled loudly. "You're gonna pay, Zack!"

Zack's eyes widened and he threw up his hands. "Oh, yeah, sure! Blame the new guy! It was Marcus!"

Barret's eye twitched. "Marcus?!" Barret suddenly let out a roar and charged into the villa. Zack and Andi decided to follow.

"…can't blame a guy for being curious, can you?!" Marcus growled. "Or would you rather feel my blade?"

There was a pause for a moment and then Barret said, "I think I'll pass on that."

Zack raised an eyebrow at Marcus. "Blade?" he muttered.

Suddenly, the door swung open and another person came in. "It's about time you're up!! I made you some tea, but it's probably too warm to drink by now!"

"Uh... right," Zack said. "You must be Cid, right?"

"Damn right! So sit your ass down and drink your GODDAMN TEA!!" With that, Cid stormed past them, down the hallway, and then out the back door.

"Is he always like that?" Zack asked Barret.

"Of course! Now if you don't mind me, I'm going to go take a bath! No one better bother me!"

Zack shook his head as Barret left. He sat down next to Jacob. "This is freakin crazy," he said. He looked down at the coffee table and saw something that caught his eye. "What's this?" He picked up the box.

"Looks like an ordinary box," Cassie noted. "What's inside?"

Opening up the box, Zack found a small note in it. He picked it up and read it. "'You have been stuck with the chain letter!! You have thirty days to send this to thirty people or else you will die!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!'"

"What the hell is _that_ all about?" Justin asked, grabbing the note from Zack and reading it.

"It's just a chain letter, you should throw it away," suggested Andi.

"That's a good idea," Zack said sarcastically. "That's like reading somebody else's mail, too. It's a federal offense!"

Marcus laughed. "Yeah, I bet. What's a federal offense?"

"Something you're about to find out," Zack said, throwing the box at Marcus.

There was a sudden commotion at the front door. Everyone turned their heads to see Cloud walking in with a plate full of hamburgers, and a crowd surrounding him, all reaching for a burger. He held the plate out of their reach and used his spatula to defend himself.

"Now wait just a second!" Cloud yelled, trying to make his way to the kitchen. "Get away from me!" That seemed to work for him. He slowly inched his way towards the kitchen, but then a huge white Mog came out of nowhere.

"Hey, Cloud!" came a voice from the top of the Mog. "You finally finished with those burgers?"

"Stay away from the burgers, you stupid cat!" Cloud yelled, trying to push Cait Sith away with his spatula.

It was too late. The Mog raised it's arm to reach for a burger, but it was too big for Cloud to push back. It knocked him over, causing the plate full of burgers to slip from his grasp. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Cloud watched the burgers fly off the plate. Everyone made mad attempts to grab the flying burgers, oblivious to the fact that Cloud was falling. Only one burger managed to escape the madness, and it landed on Cloud's face.

"Hey Cloud! Not bad! You'd make a fair cook!"

"How come mine doesn't have seasoning?!"

"Hey!! Where's my burger?!" bellowed Barret.

Silence consumed the crowd and they turned to see Barret walking towards them. They got out of his way and he walked right up to Cloud and glared down at him.

"Cloud! That's MY burger!" He grabbed the burger off Cloud's face and examined it. "Why is it so dirty?!"

"This wouldn't have happened if you all didn't rush me in the first place!" Cloud argued. Barret snorted, dropped the burger back on Cloud's face, and stormed off.

"Geez, Cloud, you pissed him off, I think!"

"Wouldn't be the first time, Cid," Cloud said from underneath the burger.

Zack shook his head at the mishap. He looked outside and dark clouds suddenly loomed overhead. A confused look crept onto his face as he stared outside. Not too long ago, the sky was clear and the sun was setting. Where did the clouds come from and so quickly?

"Hey, Zack, what's on your mind?" Andi asked, sitting closer to him.

"We need to get out of here," he said to her quietly. "Tomorrow morning."

"I was thinking the same thing," Andi replied in the same quiet tone as Zack. The two stared at each other and Zack slowly reached up and brushed her soft hair. A flash of lightning lit up the sky outside, but that didn't phase them. A loud thunderous boom followed the flash and the villa went dark.

"Aw, crap!" came Cloud's voice. "Not again!"

Zack wasn't thinking about the power outage. He was too busy thinking about other things as he was kissing Andi.

---------

The next day, Zack and the others woke up and had a late breakfast. Zack tried to check his watch for the time, but somehow it had stopped functioning. He sat down at the table after Barret finished cooking his bacon and eggs breakfast. The bacon was a bit burnt, but of course, it was Barret's first time cooking bacon. Cassie and Marcus were already sitting down at the table, finishing their food.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Cassie asked, taking another bite into her mushy and cold scrambled eggs.

Zack thought for a long minute and then said, "I haven't really given it much thought." A dreamy smile crept onto his face as he thought about what happened just before he went to bed.

"What are you smiling about?" Jacob asked, who just came in to get his breakfast. "What did you do?"

Zack suddenly frowned and then cleared his throat. "Well, um…just thinking about something."

"Hey, Barret, why is the bacon burnt?" Jacob asked, glaring up at him. "I asked for them to be extra crispy, not extra black!"

"Hey, man, it's my first time cookin' bacon!" Barret claimed, turning around and returning Jacob's glare. "So, if you don't like it, I'll throw it out!"

"No, it's cool man, it's cool." Zack watched Jacob take a bite out of his bacon.

"You seem to be feeling better," Zack said. Jacob shrugged his shoulders.

At that moment, Cid strolled into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. "GODDAMN IT!!! Zack!! I thought I told you to drink your GODDAMN TEA!! It's still sitting in there!"

"Whoops," Zack said, slowly getting up from the table to retrieve his tea. He took a drink from it and was surprised to find it was good. He drank the rest in one gulp.

"Whoa! Never seen anyone drink my tea like that before!" Cid exclaimed. "Normally, they would spit it out and tell me to do a better job next time!"

"It's that bad, huh?" Zack said, throwing the glass cup behind him, which hit Barret in the head and caused him to fall to the floor. Miraculously, the cup stayed in one piece.

"SHIT!! You idiot!" Barret got up from the floor and glared at Zack. "I should kill you for doing that!"

"Sorry," Zack muttered and went to sit down to finish his breakfast. He sat down and whispered to Marcus, "You know, he's got a bad case of-"

Suddenly, a fire erupted just as Barret turned back to the food. "AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Not again!!" He pulled out a fire extinguisher from out of nowhere and began to spray the fire.

"I think it's time we should leave," Zack said to the others. They got up from the table and headed into the living room, where Andi and Cloud were sitting on the couch with the TV on. Zack glanced at the TV; apparently they were watching the news and Zack quickly read the headline.

"Another attack on the old man's farm?" he asked.

Cloud nodded his head. "Yeah," he replied dully. "I think he's doing it to get money, you know."

"Okay…ready to go Andi?" Zack asked.

Andi jumped up from her seat. "Sure thing, Zack!" she replied cheerfully. Jacob and Cassie looked at Zack with a raised eyebrow.

"Where's Justin?" Marcus asked.

Zack turned and looked at him. "Why do you care?"

Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so uptight? I'm only asking 'cuz he has my favorite gun!"

"Alright, fine," Zack said. He looked around the room as his friends gathered around him. "Hey, what do you guys say if Cloud tags along with us?"

"I don't care," Jacob said, shrugging his shoulders.

Cassie nodded her head. "Sounds good to me. It'll make the trip more interesting."

Cloud looked at the group with puppy dog eyes. "Aw, really?! You guys would let me come with you?"

Zack shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not?"

"Alright!" Cloud yelled out, jumping up and grabbing the huge sword off of the wall. Zack and the others had to step back as he swung it around and sheathed it.

Andi looked at Zack as if he was crazy. "You sure about this?"

"I don't know anymore," Zack mumbled. "Let's just get out of here."


	8. The Shiny Orb of Hope I

**A/N:** More action as we near the end. Or is it really the end? Will Zack find the Orb?

* * *

_**The Dragon's Orb**_

By HeyKoolAid

_The Shiny Orb of Hope  
Part I_

Zack picked himself up off the ground after flying out of the portal and landing in a bunch of bushes. He brushed all the twigs off his clothes and checked to make sure everyone was okay. He walked into a small clearing surrounded by trees. Somehow, everything seemed vaguely familiar.

"Look familiar?" Cloud asked. He was sitting on a tree stump.

"It's supposed to be the Forgotten Realms," replied Zack, shrugging his shoulders. He looked around at the trees. An unusual odor caught his nose and he nearly gagged. "Damn! Something smells like it died here!"

"How quaint," Marcus said. "Maybe somebody shit themselves!"

Zack looked around, trying to find Marcus. There was a rustling noise above him and he looked up to see Marcus stuck in a tree. "Did you shit yourself then?" he asked.

"Very funny," Marcus replied dully. "A little help would be nice."

"Cassie, can you help him?" Zack asked.

"I'll try," Cassie replied. She balled up her hand into a fist and began sparking. She released the lightning bolt at the tree and struck the branch Marcus was caught on and fell. "How's that?" she asked.

"Nice," Zack replied, catching Marcus.

"My hero," Marcus said sarcastically, looking at Zack. Zack scoffed and dropped him. "You could've been more sincere."

"Hey guys, we have company," Cloud said nervously. "Whatever that smell is…it found us."

Zack looked up to see two figures slowly staggering towards them. They also looked a little grotesque.

"Zombies," Justin said, answering Zack's unasked question.

Cloud raised his sword. "Well, let's take care of them while we still can!" He swung his sword around and caught the zombies, slicing off their heads. "Easy as pie," he said, swinging his sword above his head and doing his victory dance.

Zack stared at Cloud and shook his head. "How embarrassing," he mumbled. He then spoke up. "Alright, let's get outta here! We don't want to be found by any monsters thinking we're their dinner!"

"Sounds bad," Cassie noted.

"Yeah, especially if you know what's out here," Jacob added.

Marcus slowly got up off the ground. "Alright, I feel better already…but the smell's still faint and getting a bit stronger again."

"Are you even human?" asked Andi. Zack and Marcus looked at Andi curiously and she continued, "Well, first you eat a hamburger in one gulp…without even chewing it I might add…and then you can smell these zombies as if they're miles away!"

Marcus laughed. "I'll admit it, Andi. You've got me. I'm not human. I'm –"

Zack elbowed Marcus in the kidney. "Shut up," he said as Marcus fell to his knees. "C'mon, let's get the hell outta here." Zack said, leaving Marcus on the ground.

The group headed north, away from the zombie smell. After about thirty minutes of walking, they came across a large mountain range that extended from the East to the West. There seemed to be only one way across and that was to go over the mountains.

"Is there even a town nearby?" Marcus asked as everyone stared at the mountains.

"Well, you're always welcome to go find out yourself," Jacob said. "We won't miss you."

"Are we even going in the right direction?" asked Cassie

Zack sighed. "Well, we'll find out."

"Could be," Marcus said. "Where's this dragon you keep talking about?" Everyone stopped and slowly turned to Marcus. He raised an eyebrow. "What? Didn't Marsilio say anything about a dragon to you guys?"

"No, he failed to mention that," replied Justin. "If there is a dragon, however, we'll let you know."

"Hey, what's that?" Cassie asked, pointing at a flying dot in the distance. Everyone stared at the dot for a while until it appeared to have landed on the mountains and disappeared.

"Well, I guess we'll go in that direction and find out what that was," Zack said and started walking again.

"I don't know, man," Jacob said. "I'm a bit scared."

Zack looked at Jacob. "Look, we all are Jake. And you know, we're here trying to find mom and dad…and anyone else Marsilio may have taken."

"I can't believe you guys," Marcus said, almost laughing. "How can you be afraid of a little dragon?"

"Little?" Zack asked curiously. "When's the last time you've seen a dragon, huh?"

"Well, he is supposed to be guarding that orb."

"I'm not liking this anymore," Justin said. He began digging in his coat and pulled out a gun. "Ok, I feel better."

Zack stared at Justin's weapon of choice. "What's that?"

"This? It's a P-90. Fully automatic, fifty round magazine of 5.7mm rounds, and compact."

"That's it?" Marcus asked.

Justin shrugged his shoulders. "What else do want from me? I've got a whole arsenal of weapons here!"

Cassie suddenly put her hand on Justin's shoulder. "Are you even able to share some of those?"

Justin shook his head. "Nope. They're all mine. Even Marcus' pistol. He can't get it back."

"What?! Whaddya mean I can't get it back?!" Marcus yelled, reaching up to choke Justin, but with a P-90 pointed at him, he backed down.

"Hey guys! Knock it off!" Zack yelled. "We have a mission here! We're looking for our people, right?"

"And Carlos!" Marcus added.

Without another word, Zack motioned for the group to follow him. They started walking towards a small valley filled with sagebrush. The surrounding cliffs were filled with several cave entrances, possibly leading into a complex cave system.

"Those must be caves," Cloud noted, pointing to a castle-like cliff in the distance. "And they look heavily guarded."

Zack looked at Jacob. "Sounds like you've got competition for running for science officer," he said sarcastically. Jacob glared at him and before he could answer, Zack turned around and studied the cliffs. "Ok, we're looking for an orb…"

"How are we going to find an orb when those caves are heavily guarded?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, just what I was thinking. Ok, Marcus, your job is to distract the dragon," Zack said, looking around to make sure no monster was trying to attack them.

"Why me?! I have nothing to protect myself with!" complained Marcus. "Besides, who put YOU in charge?"

Zack laughed. "Settle down now," he said, glaring at Marcus. "We're gonna split up, okay?"

"Yeah, ok, whatever," Marcus said. He began walking towards one of the cave entrances. "When you find your lost people, let me know. I'm gonna find the orb and Carlos. Well…whichever one comes first."

"What the hell are you thinking?!" Zack yelled. "It could be dangerous!"

Marcus stopped in his tracks and turned around. There was something different about him. Something evil. "Do you think Marsilio would only make one Immortal?"

Zack's glare turned into a look of surprise. Marcus laughed and then turned to leave. He looked over his shoulder and said, "I'll be back. And when I do, watch out. I won't be as sincere as I am now."

Everyone watched as Marcus disappeared into a cave, possibly never to be seen again. Zack cursed loudly and balled his hand up into a fist, looking for something to punch. "What the hell did he mean by that anyway?!" he yelled.

"Don't worry about it, Zack," Justin said. "Knowing our luck, he might be eaten by the dragon."

Zack scoffed. "You think that makes me feel any better? You were supposed to keep him from leaving!"

Justin raised an eyebrow. "Really? Oh well…I guess when he figured out he couldn't have his pistol back, he decided to leave."

"What's so damn special about his gun?" Cassie asked.

"Not a thing," Justin replied. "Now, may I suggest we figure out what we do here?" Everyone turned and looked at Zack, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Why do you all look at me as if I know what to do?" he asked with a sigh. "Right now, I'm clueless."

"So, mom and dad are somewhere in there?" Jacob asked, stepping forward.

Zack nodded his head. "Hopefully."

"You don't sound so confident."

"You worry about yourself," Zack said. "I'm only watching out for you because Emma would kill me!"

Jacob laughed. "I don't blame her," he said. He turned to Zack. "I would too. Don't forget, I can turn into a werewolf at any time, and I can't seem to control it. Last time, I didn't have a clue what was going on."

Zack stared at his brother. The two of them have been changed since their little scuffle at school. Jacob was looking more pale and tired. His bruises stood out horribly. "Don't you worry, I'll get you home," he said.

"Are you two done?" Justin asked. "I'm tired of standing here. I'm itching to find this orb before Marcus does!"

Andi grabbed Cassie's hand and led her back towards the cave entrance Marcus chose. "We're gonna follow Marcus," she said to the other four. "You guys have fun looking for the orb!"

"Wait a sec!" Justin called out. "Don't leave yet!"

"What's up?" Andi asked.

Justin handed her his P-90. "You'll need this."

"Thought you couldn't let anyone else use your weapons?" Zack asked curiously.

Justin grinned. "I wouldn't let Marcus use my weapons. I may have lied a little bit…but only in good reason."

Cassie grinned. "Way to go, Justin. What do I get?" Justin handed her Marcus' pistol. "That's it?"

"Hey, it's Marcus's." He shrugged apologetically. "You'll be fine. I have faith in you."

Cassie suddenly kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks. Good luck to y'all!" she said as the two turned and headed towards the caves.

Zack turned to Justin and couldn't help but grin. "Hey, she likes you, you know?" He noticed Cloud was sleeping. "Hey, who said you can sleep?" he asked, poking Cloud.

Cloud snorted and woke up. "Huh? Wha?" He looked up at the three with sleepy eyes. "Are we ready?"

"Why don't you go find our dragon friend?" suggested Jacob. "We're splitting up to cover more ground."

"I was gonna suggest that," Cloud replied, stretching. He stood up and unsheathed his huge sword, swinging it around so everyone had to duck out of the way. "I'll be back in a jiffy."

"That leaves us with the missing peeps," Justin said as he began walking towards a different cave entrance.

Zack shook his head. "No, I'm gonna go look for the orb. However, I will follow you guys into the caves."

"Then let's go, Zack," Jacob said, following Justin.

"Right behind ya," Zack said, following the two. They came across a cave entrance and no where else to go. Jacob and Justin looked at him.

"Looks like the only way is through this cave," Jacob said to Zack.

"Yep," Zack replied. "Why don't you lead the way?" He looked around caught a glimpse of Cloud disappearing into a cave. "Cloud's in. Cassie and Andi are in. Here we go…"

He looked in the cave and saw Jacob signaling for the two to follow him. They walked through the cave, which was a steep incline, and when they made it through, guards spotted them from a few meters away. Outside the first cave there was a ledge not to high up and Zack tried to jump up as high as he could, but couldn't get a hold of the edge.

"Man, white people can't jump," he said to Jacob. "You try."

"I'm just as white as you…" Jacob muttered as he jumped up and gripped the edge. He slowly pulled himself up and climbed onto the perch as fast as he could. "Hey, you two better hurry up! There's…uh, monsters coming our way!"

Zack looked at Justin. "Ladies first," he said with a cocky grin.

"What the hell…" Justin muttered as he reached up and tried to jump, but couldn't make it.

"Use one of your guns," Jacob suggested as he reached for Justin's hand. "I can't reach that far."

Justin raised his gun and Jacob grabbed it and pulled him up. Zack gave him a small boost and then looked behind him and saw some monsters running towards him. "Better hurry it up! Looks like there's some of those monsters heading this way!"

Zack stared at the lead monster. An image flashed in his mind as he recalled the nightmare of the werewolf. Jacob looked over the edge and yelled down at him. "C'mon, Zack, get up here!" Zack jumped up and grabbed Jacob's hand and he was pulled up onto the ledge.

"So what now?" Justin asked, looking around.

Zack glanced behind him and noticed the monsters that were chasing him. They were trying to jump up after them. "Get going," he said to Jacob and Justin.

"What about you?" Justin asked as Jacob grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him. He fought against him. "You have no way to fight them!"

"I'll be fine," Zack said. A hand suddenly reached up and grabbed his leg. He looked down and a face looked back at him. "You freakin' imps..." he muttered and kicked the imp in the face.

Suddenly, arrows whizzed by him and hit the wall next to his face. Another grazed his ear and he quickly turned around and sprinted towards Jacob and Justin. "C'mon, let's go!" he yelled out as he ran by them and jumped onto the next landing. He landed on his belly and exhaled. "That's gonna hurt later…" he mumbled to himself. Another volley of arrows whizzed over him and stuck into the cave wall.

"Move, Zack!" Jacob cried out as soon as he landed next to him. "Get up and move!"

"I'm moving! I'm moving!" Zack said as he helped him up.

Justin landed right next to Zack on the ground. He looked around and saw more imps coming out of the cave next to them.

"Zack!" Justin yelled out. "They're coming from behind us!"

"Use your freakin' guns!" he yelled, turning around to a group of imps and other monsters. Justin aimed his P-90 and began shooting.

---------

"Damn, these caves just keep on going round and round! And I'm running out of ammo!" Andi and Cassie were running around the caves, randomly picking passageways. They came to a dead end.

"Same here," Cassie said. "How is it that, having no knowledge about how to use guns, we suddenly find ourselves in a situation where we have to use guns and we suddenly know how to use 'em?"

"I have no idea what you just said," Andi replied, studying the walls around them. She checked her pockets for ammo clips, but her pockets were empty. "Must be Justin's charm."

"I'm just gonna rest up against this wall here," Cassie said, leaning up against the wall. She didn't think finding an orb would take this much energy out of her. "If I were a dragon, where would I hide my treasure?"

Andi shrugged her shoulders and turned around, expecting to see more monsters heading their way, but this time the passageway was empty. "Good question," Andi replied. She examined the walls again and then sighed. "C'mon, Cassie, let's head back." There was no reply. "Cassie?"

There was no signs of Cassie. Andi was all alone.

---------

"It's a freakin' dead end!" Justin yelled out, banging his fists on the wall. His face was dripping with sweat from running. "Where the hell is this dragon?"

"We should've followed Cloud," Jacob said, looking around. He gripped his P-90 in one hand, ready to shoot the next monster that leapt up at him from the shadows. Justin decided it would benefit the group if they all carried a weapon. "He would've lead us right to the dragon."

"Yeah, but he's got experience hunting dragons. Besides, what would you do once you found him, eh?" Zack asked, starting to head back. He heard the sound of a door opening and turned around. There was no sign of Justin. "Hey, Jake, Justin just disappeared."

Jacob turned around and walked up to the wall. "What the hell is going on?"

"Well, there's no time," Zack quickly said. "We gotta find the orb…"

"Hey, there's a switch here!" Jacob pushed the switch and a secret door opened. "Shall we go?"

Zack and Jacob looked into the secret passage. There was no light and no way of knowing how far down the passage went. "You go first," Zack said.

Without hesitation, Jacob walked into the secret door and fell. Zack heard Jacob's yelling for a while and then silence. He couldn't hear if he hit something or not. Then, he heard, "Hey, Zack! It's all right! There's a soft landing and you'll never guess who I found down here!"

Zack walked into the secret door and fell. It seemed like riding a roller coaster at the fair and at the same time, seemed like going down a slide. After what seemed like thirty seconds, he emerged into a very large chamber and hit the floor. It was nice and soft, much like his bed at home.

"Who'd you find, Jacob?" Zack asked, slowly getting up. The whole chamber was filled with torches. He looked around and saw Cassie sitting on a cushion staring at a huge heaping pile of gold. In fact, the whole chamber was filled with gold. '_How could gold be so soft_?' Zack thought. He spotted Jacob, who was next to Cassie, but he wasn't staring at the heaping piles of gold. Zack followed Jacob's gaze and saw Cloud in the distance, walking towards the large form of a sleeping black dragon.

"Hey, Zack…is that…a dragon?" Jacob asked.

Suddenly, the heaping pile of gold that Cassie was watching started moving. It gave everyone quite a start, but when Justin emerged from it, everyone calmed down.

"Who would've expected to find gold at a bottomless pit?" he said. "And how the hell did I get _buried_ in it when I fell on _top_ of it?"

"Quiet! All of you!" they heard Cloud say. "Unless you want to become barbecue, I suggest you all leave this up to me!"

"Where's the orb?!" Zack asked loudly, hoping that Cloud would hear him, but not the dragon.

Zack's question did not need answering. Just as he asked the question, his gaze went upward and above the dragon was the orb, perched on a huge golden pedestal. It seemed quite dull at the moment, but it suddenly changed color from yellow to blue and then to red. It did this for a long time, at a slow rate, but then it began to go faster and faster and by the time it was just a blur, Zack was already dizzy. He looked away from it for a moment.

"Hey, Jacob, let's get that orb and get out of here!" Jacob did not answer. Zack looked around, but Jacob was gone. "What the? Where'd Jacob go?" No response. Justin had disappeared too. Zack was beginning to worry. Not only was Jacob and Justin missing, but Cassie and even Cloud was gone.

'_What the hell?_' Zack looked around some more. Nothing seemed out of place to him. He looked to where the dragon was sleeping. He hadn't moved at all, so that meant…

Zack raised an eyebrow. '_So, where would you put over ten million people from one Realm?_' Zack thought to himself. '_And where the hell is Marcus? The orb is here, but where is Marcus?_' There was a moment of dreadful silence as Zack looked around the room, looking for some kind of clue, and then it came to him in the form of a familiar person appearing in front of him.

"What the hell are you thinking!? You can't destroy the orb!"

Zack's eyes widened. "Rob! What the hell are you doing?! I'm not here to destroy the orb!"

"I'm serious…wait what? I was told somebody was going to be here to destroy the orb!"

"Rob, Marcus is the one you're after. He was on his way here to destroy the orb and cause some kind of hell…I don't even know."

"Oh…the Ten Wise Men are in that orb," Rob said casually. "You have heard of them, haven't you?"

Zack gripped his P-90 until his knuckles were white. He stood in silence, staring at Rob. "No! Who the hell are they?" he finally asked after a long silence.

Rob shook his head sadly. "You've met Marsilio right? Well, he's a part of this group called the Ten Wise Men. They're a group of Immortals who worship the God, Bane."

Zack nodded his head. "I have heard of Bane. And Marsilio's the one who gave me this tattoo on my chest."

Rob raised an eyebrow. "Let me see." Zack lifted his shirt to reveal the black fist. Rob nodded his head. "Yep. I see. I'll have to get that looked at later," he said.

"Jacob has one too."

"Where's Marcus?"

Zack shook his head. "I have no idea. He disappeared in a different entrance…Andi and Cassie followed him. Speaking of which, where are they now? Jacob and them?"

"They may have been transported to the prisoner cells. At least those that were in this room. Why you weren't transported, I have no idea."

Zack nodded his head. "The prisoner cells…where are they located?"

"I can show you," Rob said.

"But what about the orb?"

"The orb will be destroyed," came a voice from the far side of the room. Rob and Zack looked up to see Marcus strolling into the room. Somehow, he had gotten through all the commotion unscathed. "Who's your new friend, Zack?"

Zack didn't answer. He glared at Marcus. He brought up the P-90, his finger shaking on the trigger. "What are you doing here? You know I won't let you destroy the orb."

Marcus laughed. "Zack, you remember when I told you "you think Marsilio would only make one Immortal"? Well, we're both Immortals. I'm just a different kind of Immortal. You see…" He held out his hands, palms facing up. Two balls of energy appeared in his hands. "…your kind can't do this. And with these, I can destroy the orb easily!"

Rob suddenly turned to Zack. "He's right, Zack. You two are completely different in regards of Immortality. You just need to search deep down and know what is right. You know how to use your powers! You've done it before."

Zack raised an eyebrow. "I have…?"

"There's no time for that nonsense, now," Marcus said. He began juggling the energy balls. "This is always fun."

"Where are my parents at?" Zack demanded, approaching Marcus. The two were face to face.

Marcus shrugged his shoulders innocently. "You think I know? Oh wait…I do!"

Zack growled and aimed the P-90 at Marcus' face. "Tell me! Or I swear I'll freakin' kill you right here!"

Marcus laughed and pushed the gun out of his face. "You'll have to do better than…"

Zack suddenly shoved the P-90 against Marcus' face and he fell down on the gold. "TELL ME!!"

Before Marcus could say anything, there was a loud rumbling noise coming from the far side of the room. The two looked in the direction of the dragon, who was standing up and attempting to stretch it's wings.

"Son of a bitch!" Rob yelled out. "I'm outta here!" With that, Rob disappeared.

"Dammit! Look what you did!" Zack yelled, now aiming the P-90 at the dragon.

"I pity you then," Marcus said in an icy tone. Zack looked at him, but Marcus kicked him in the side, sending Zack almost halfway across the room. "I'll see you on Earth!"

Zack turned and shot in the direction where Marcus was, but it was too late. He was gone before he even shot. "Goddammit! This day just keeps getting better!" He looked at the dragon. "Aw, crap…not now…"


	9. The Shiny Orb of Hope II

_**The Dragon's Orb**_

By HeyKoolAid

_The Shiny Orb of Hope  
Part II_

"This is just great," Cloud growled, pacing back and forth in front of Justin, Jacob, and Cassie. "One minute I'm this close to the dragon and now, I find myself trapped in this…room. Who knows where the hell we're at!"

Justin and Cassie exchanged glances. "Well, he seems pissed," Justin whispered to her.

Cassie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, well this time, I'm not waiting around for Zack to bust us out. I think we can do this ourselves."

Jacob got up and stuck his head out of the room. There were two guards guarding each room in the hallway. Who knows how many were around the corner on the far end, or if there were hundreds of hallways just like this. The nearest guard glared dangerously at Justin, obviously stating, "I dare you to come closer."

"There's several other rooms like this guarded with those demons," Jacob said, turning around and sitting back down by Justin.

"So what's going on with you guys?" Cloud asked, sitting down in the middle of the room. "I know you guys are able to travel between worlds somehow, but how did that all start?"

"Well, it all started when Marsilio threatened me," Jacob explained. "And when Zack showed up, he told us he kidnapped our parents and wanted us to do something for him. You know how cliché that is?"

"What, hold somebody for ransom while you run around trying to get what the kidnapper wants?" asked Justin.

At that moment, a figure walked into the doorway, casting a dark shadow within the room. Everyone turned to meet this stranger, someone who obviously has some kind of importance, since the guards were dismissed. The man had long silver hair, icy blue eyes, and wore a black cape that matched his black armor. He had quite a long sword at his side, and it didn't take an explanation to know that this man was a dangerous fighter.

Cloud suddenly jumped up. "Sephiroth! What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be dead!"

Sephiroth smiled evilly. "Well then, there's no need to introduce myself," he said. "I trust you're all being treated fairly well? I hope the guards haven't been mean to you at all."

"Cut the crap and get to the point," Cloud growled.

Sephiroth looked at Cloud. "Quite a team you picked out, Cloud. What happened to your other friends?"

"Do you know Marsilio?" Cassie asked.

Sephiroth slowly turned and met Cassie's gaze. He stared deeply into her eyes, searching for something. "Possibly," he replied, not looking away. They were like this for almost a minute until Justin got in the way.

"I seen you before," he said. "What were you doing on Earth?"

Sephiroth examined Justin for a moment and then turned and began to leave. "Oh, I would like to be the one to tell you that your friend Zack is trapped in the cavern with the dragon. And it's been a long time since the dragon had a meal…" Sephiroth began laughing and left the room.

"Oh, god…" Cassie whispered, staring at the spot where Sephiroth was once standing. "He's gonna die…"

Cloud headed towards the door. "What the hell is _he_ doing here?" he asked, his hands twitching as he spoke.

"You two know each other?" Jacob asked, standing up.

Cloud suddenly punched the wall, making the other three jump. "We killed him! I'm sure of it! But how…how is he alive?"

"Hey, Cloud…do you know that Sephiroth fellow?" Jacob asked again.

"That's right," Cloud replied, nodding his head. He turned to Justin. "You said you seen him?"

Justin nodded his head. "That's right. I was in the library and he came storming in. I hid underneath some tables and stuff, hoping he wouldn't see me. I just thought I was seeing things…you know…too much shrooms…"

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Shrooms?"

"Don't ask," Jacob quickly cut in. "Justin, do you have any weapons in that coat of yours?"

Justin grinned. "Of course! As long as they don't take it, we're good to go!" He opened his coat and pulled out a huge sword. "This one goes to Cloud," he said, handing it to Cloud.

Cloud examined the sword and nodded his head. "I like this," he said, swinging it around, causing everyone around him to duck out of the way. "You all ready to bust out of this joint?"

---------

"This is just great…" Andi muttered to herself as she wandered around the cave for what seemed like days. "First I lose Cassie, now I can't find my way back…" She continued walking, stopping at each intersection to check and make sure nothing was coming her way. Her P-90 ran out of ammo, but it still worked as an effective weapon, especially when it came to bashing these monsters' skulls with it.

'_There's gotta be an easier way to do this_,' Andi thought to herself, turning down another hallway. It seemed to go on forever. '_Mom and Dad are so going to kill me…but then again, they could be among the missing…_'

She came upon a wide open space, and three different tunnels to choose from. Andi let out an exasperated sigh. "God, this keeps getting better and better!" There was a noise behind her and she quickly spun around, expecting some kind of secret wall to have appeared, but instead, a small band of monsters were heading their way.

"This is just great…" Andi said, her heart beginning to beat faster. She closed her eyes to relax herself and the pictures from the magic book suddenly came into focus. If she could put those into use, she could have a good chance to fight the monsters. However, most of the spells she remembered were recovery spells, and nothing like what Cassie was using. "And Cassie still has that book," Andi muttered to herself. She shook her head and faced the monsters. "All right you scumbags, let's get this done and over with."

When the first monster reached her, she easily knocked it aside with a hollow 'CLANK' from the P-90. The next wave of monsters attacked when they saw their comrade fall. Three monsters came at her, and she jumped back. Then, as the one to her left lunged at her, she whacked it across the face, stunning it. Spinning around, Andi slammed the butt of the weapon into the next monster. Then, another monster grabbed a hold of her arm and bit into it.

Andi let out a scream. "AAAAHHHH!!! GOD DAMMIT!!" She dropped the P-90 and punched this monster in the face. The monster backed off, but her right hand now hurt like hell. And along with that, her left arm was bleeding heavily. "I'm going to remind Zack to give me hazardous pay for this."

She quickly picked up the P-90 and spun around, whacking yet another monster in the face. Catching a quick glimpse down the hallway, Andi noticed that it was jam packed with monsters. "Aw crap!" She looked down at the P-90 and noticed that it was broken.

"That doesn't look good," she said and threw the gun at the monsters. As soon as she done that, she turned to head down one of the paths, but before she could reach any of them, a stunned monster reached out, grabbed her leg, and pulled her down to the ground. She began kicking it, and not until after the monster clawed her leg several time, she finally got it to loosen it's grip.

"Finally," she said dully. She had some trouble standing up, but when she managed to get up, she tried to get away as fast as she could. As she limped off to the nearest path, an explosion suddenly shook the cavern and knocked her down with much force that she hit her head on the ground. Andi was unconscious.

---------

Justin, Cassie, and Jacob were following Cloud through the caverns when they heard an explosion. They stopped for a moment and looked at each other, thinking that something had gone wrong. "What was that?" Cassie asked Justin.

Justin shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. Could be anything."

Cloud turned around, his weapon at the ready. "Hey, now's not the time to stop! We've gotta find your friends!"

Jacob coughed and shook his head. "Yeah, we know," he said, his voice scratchy. "I'm not feeling so well right now though…"

"Cassie, can you carry Jacob?" Cloud asked. "Justin, you'll have to help me fight these monsters off."

Justin nodded his head and walked up next to Cloud. Cassie put a hand on Jacob's shoulder. "You all right?" she asked.

Jacob coughed again, this time, more seriously. Blood splattered against the wall from his cough and Cassie took a few steps back. "Uhh…Cloud?"

"Just go!" Jacob yelled. He staggered forward a few paces, using the wall to steady himself. "Something's happening, and you guys need to get out of here! I don't want to hurt you!"

Justin and Cassie made a move towards Jacob, but he let out a nasty snarl and tried to claw at Justin. "Dammit, just go!" he snarled. His whole body began transforming slowly into the form of a werewolf.

"We'll be back for you, buddy," Justin said, grabbing Cassie by her arm and dragging her behind him.

"We can't leave him here!" Cassie protested. Justin looked at Cloud and shrugged his shoulders.

The three had reached a fork in the road, and they stopped. Justin turned to Cassie. "Look, he can take care of himself. Once we find the prisoners, we can go back for him. By now, I'm sure Zack as found Marcus and his friend Carlos and has taken care of them. He's expecting us to get our job done now."

Cassie glared at Justin, obviously not agreeing with him. "We will come back for him then?"

"That's the idea," Justin replied. He turned around to tell Cloud to go, but they were not alone in the small room. A figure appeared out of no where, blocking their path. Cloud had his sword out and ready. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Don't hurt me! It's Rob!"

"Do you know him?" Cloud asked. His grip on the sword hadn't relaxed. In fact, Justin thought he was going to chop Rob up in several unidentified pieces.

"Uh…" Rob thought for a moment. "Let's just say I'm a friend of Zack."

"Yeah, I remember you," Justin said. He motioned Cloud to lower his sword. "It's okay, I trust this guy after what we've been through."

"Let's get down to business," Rob said. "Zack and Marcus has already met, but there's no sign of Carlos. Marcus escaped, and the dragon has broken free of the cavern. Because of all the commotion, Carlos and Marcus have left this Realm by now."

Justin let out a frustrated groan. "What the hell?! Why do you bring us bad news?"

"If you would let me finish…" Rob replied, glaring at Justin. "…I'm about to take you guys to the prisoners now, if you would like."

"That'd be great!" Cassie replied. "How many prisoners are we talking about?"

"I know Marsilio made it seemed like your whole school had gone missing, but he had tricked your minds," Rob said. Justin and Cassie glanced at each other. "Everyone's fine, the only people that are here are Zack's parents, Danielle, and Cassandra's mother."

"My mom's here?!" Cassie asked, a confused look on her face.

Rob nodded his head. "Yes. Marsilio went ahead and took at least one thing you hold dear. He only messed with your mind and made you think everybody disappeared."

"What a tricky son of a bitch," Cloud said, more to himself than to anybody around him.

Rob turned and began heading down the leftmost hallway. "This way," he said, motioning everyone to follow him.

Everyone followed Rob down the hallway and it twisted around one way and the other. After about ten minutes, they emerged in a small, circular room, with jail cells lined along the wall. Each cell was big enough to hold at least ten people, but as the four approached the cell on the far end of the room, there were three figures huddled in a corner in the cell. They stood up when they were approached.

"Mom?!" Cassie said in surprise when she saw her mother's face in the light.

Noemi Flores was just a little shorter than Cassie, but the two looked the same. She had dark auburn hair down to her shoulders. Her blue eyes shone with life as she smiled at Cassie. If it weren't for the slight wrinkles in her face, and Cassie's green eyes, the two could be mistaken for twins.

"Cassie!" Noemi said. "What a surprise!"

Rob, Justin, and Cloud looked at each other with a raised eyebrow, noticing the resemblance between the daughter and mother. Justin stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Excuse me…" Everyone turned their attention to Justin. "…I don't mean to interrupt any family reunions or anything, BUT we do have to find Zack and Andi."

Mrs. Scott suddenly ran up to the cell door. "Where is my son?!" she asked hysterically. "Is he okay?!"

Rob nodded his head. "Yes, Zack is fine. We just got cut off from him, that's all. We need to get you guys back to Earth though."

"What do you mean?" asked Danielle. "We're not on Earth anymore?"

"No, we're in a different Realm," Justin explained. "We thought everybody at school had been kidnapped, but apparently it was only you four and Marsilio was playing mind games with us."

"Marsilio? Mind games?" Mr. Scott looked at the four with a confused look. "What are you guys talking about? You're not talking about the Marsilio I work with?"

Rob shook his head. "Look, there's no time. We'll explain it on our way back. Now, if you will, please stand back from the door so I can get you three out."

As the three stood back, Rob stepped forward and easily dislodged the door from it's hinges. It fell to the ground with a dull 'thud'. "This way," he said, bowing low.

"How are we going to get back to Earth without the remote?" Justin asked, escorting Danielle out of the cell. "Zack has the remote."

Rob laughed, causing everyone to glare at him. "They don't call me an "Ancient" for nothing!" he said with a huge grin on his face. "I can do things with a wave of the hand, or in a blink of an eye!"

"But how do we know if we can trust you?" Cloud asked. He still had his sword gripped in one hand. Rob eyed his hand carefully. "Well…if you've helped us out this far, I suppose you're not so bad after all."

Danielle approached Rob and eyed him carefully. Rob stared back, wondering why she was studying him. She then asked, "Andi was with you guys?"

"Yeah," Rob replied, nodding his head. "Don't know where she is though."

Danielle looked at the ground. "Oh…I was wondering, 'cuz there was an explosion earlier…"

Rob suddenly slapped himself on the forehead. "Oh, great! The dragon! I forgot!"

"There's a dragon here?!" Noemi cried out, her eyes widening. Cassie began calming her mother.

"Ok, you four…" Rob pointed at Noemi, Danielle, and the Scotts. "…you need to get back to Earth…" He then turned to Cloud, Justin, and Cassie. "…and you three need to come with me to find Zack and Andi."

"Don't forget Jacob," Cassie said.

"Jacob's here too?!" Mrs. Scott said. Everyone looked at her and she looked as if she was about to faint. "Oh, the horrors I've heard about this place!"

Rob's eyes widened. "So, he's missing too? Holy crap! You guys are fired!"

"Hey, he was turning into a werewolf," Cloud said. "What else would you want us to do?!"

"Jacob's a werewolf?!" Mr. Scott asked. "What have you guys been doing?"

Rob closed his eyes for a moment. Everyone thought he was thinking, but deep down, he was concentrating on trying to pinpoint everybody's location. After a minute, he opened them. "Okay, you four will have to wait here," he said, pointing at the parents and Danielle. "This shouldn't take too long. Myself, Cassie, and Justin will find our missing friends. Cloud…you make sure nobody gets in this room."

Cloud nodded his head. "You got it, boss."

Rob glared at Cloud. "Don't call me boss."

"Can I come?" Danielle asked. "If you're going to find Andi, I want to…"

"No, sorry, you can't," interrupted Rob. "I can't endanger your lives. It wouldn't look good on my record."

Danielle looked at Rob with a raised brow. With a wave of his hand, Rob began walking off with Cassie and Justin. "We'll be back!" Cassie called back to her mother.

---------

Rob led Justin and Cassie through the twisting caves. Cassie had lost all her bearings after they left the jail cell area and as they continued twisting and turning, she began to feel dizzy and nauseated. She stopped for a moment and put her hand on the wall to steady herself.

"You okay?" Justin asked as he bumped into her. "Need a break?"

Cassie was panting. "I'm not feeling so well," she replied. "I need some water."

Rob suddenly appeared and approached Cassie. "You look sick," he stated. The two glared at him and Rob merely shrugged it off. "We're not far from Andi now. Just around the bend, really, at the fork."

Cassie suddenly grabbed Rob by his shirt. "If…you mention…bends and twists AGAIN…I will have to kill you…"

Rob chuckled and removed Cassie's hand. "I'll have to take your word on that," he said, straightening out his shirt. "I've been threatened many times, but this time…I believe you."

"You say the fork is just up ahead?" Justin asked. Rob nodded his head, "Think you can make it that far, Cassie?"

Cassie nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm starting to feel a little better. Maybe Andi can help me out."

The three began moving again, a little slower than before. When they arrived at the fork, they could see that the rest of the paths were blocked in by a pile of rocks. There was no other way through the fork. Dead bodies littered the floor, but it wasn't hard to find Andi lying near the left path. Justin, Cassie, and Rob emerged from the right path.

"Oh…my…god…" Cassie said, examining the room. She examined the pile of rocks blocking their path. "At least we don't have any more paths to choose from…"

"Don't worry, we won't go back through that tunnel," Rob said, shaking Andi's body. "C'mon, wake up, Andi…"

A few minutes later, Andi began to stir. The three let out a sigh of relief and when Andi looked at Rob, she began to freak out. "Oh, no…no, no, no! Not you! I thought we finally got rid of you!" She tried to stand up, but the pain in her leg forced her to stay down.

Rob tried to calm her. "Don't worry! I'm here to help. In fact, you're all in danger just being here…I knew this would happen…uh, look…"

"No!" Andi held up her right arm and tried to hit Rob. Rob swatted the meek attack and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Andrea! Calm down! I'm here to help you this time!"

Andi still didn't believe him and was struggling with all her might to get out of his grip. Rob looked at her bleeding arm and held his hand over the scar. As Andi continued to struggle, Rob stared deeply into her eyes. Within a minute he finally let go and took a step back.

Andi glared at him and then looked down at her arm. It was completely healed. "What the…?"

"C'mon, Andi, we don't have time to play games. Now, let's get back to the surface, everyone's waiting."

---------

Zack buried himself in a heap of gold coins to hide himself from the dragon. '_Some leader I am_,' he thought to himself. '_Hiding in a bunch of gold from a dragon…yeah, a huge, freakin' dragon._'

After hiding for what seemed like half an hour, Zack decided to see what the dragon was up to. He sat up and looked around, but the dragon wasn't there. "What the heck? He isn't even here…" He stood up, gripping his P-90 tightly. "Where'd he go?" The cavern was too quiet for Zack, yet there was a nice sunroof that didn't seem to be there before…

"Aw, he got away," Zack said to himself. "That's probably what that loud explosion and shaking was…"

At that moment, Rob appeared next to him, causing Zack to jump. "Whoa! Holy crap! Would you quit doing that?!"

Rob smiled. "Sorry. Look, everyone's outside. They're all waiting for you, even your parents."

Zack stared at Rob. "My parents…they're safe?"

"Of course! Cloud has been watching over them."

Zack let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. Deep down, I've been worried about them."

Rob crossed his arms across his chest. "It was all a mind trick, Zack," he explained. "Marsilio's been playing you from the beginning and I believe he's up to no good on Earth."

Zack cursed. "You tell me this now?! That tricky son of a bitch! Dammit!"

"We've also been unable to locate Jacob," Rob went on. Zack gaped at him. "Apparently, he began transforming into a werewolf while the others were escaping. I'm afraid we're gonna hafta leave him."

Zack shook his head. "No! Hell no! There's no way I'm leaving without Jacob!" Rob shrugged his shoulders. "Look, if you all want to leave, fine!" He dug into his pocket and took out the remote control. He tossed it to Rob.

"You're not coming?" Rob asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Jacob's my brother. I can't just leave him because he turned into a werewolf!"

"That's understandable, Zack," Rob said with a nod. "I will let everyone know you'll be staying behind."

"Thanks," Zack said. He held out his hand. "You know, you're not a bad person after all." Rob smiled and shook Zack's hand, shocking him. Zack immediately jerked his hand back.

"Couldn't help it," Rob said, an ear to ear grin covering his face. He held up his hand, revealing a joy buzzer that Zack swore wasn't there a minute ago.

"How do you do it?" Zack asked, rubbing his hand.

Rob tossed the remote back to Zack and he looked at Rob with a confused look. "Just keep it with ya. I have my own ways of returning everyone back to Earth."


	10. The Man with the Silver Hair

**A/N:** I'm not so sure I should've named this chapter as "The Man with the Silver Hair", but for now, it'll have to do. Here we get to see evidence of more crossovers and a slight glimpse of Zack's powers. However, his younger brother will continue to outshine him.

* * *

_**The Dragon's Orb**_

By HeyKoolAid

_The Man with the Silver Hair_

Rob disappeared without a sound, leaving Zack alone in the dragon's chamber. Zack looked around the room for any clues as to where to look first. He checked his pockets and found one more magazine left for his P-90. Across the room, he spotted an archway that lead into the cavern system. Quickly, he moved across the room and through the archway. He was in the winding hallways again.

He moved down the hallways at a jog, peering down random passages as he passed them for signs of life. He remembered Rob telling him the prisoner cells were above the dragon's chamber, so he looked for any signs of stairs. He stopped at a fork littered with dead imp bodies. Flinching at the sight, Zack moved towards the right corridor, and found the floor inclined. The corridor twisted and turned, here and there, up and down, and Zack had to stop for a second to catch his breath and steady himself.

Zack cursed and looked behind him. He thought he heard something. Steadying his breaths, he listened carefully. At first, he thought it was nothing, but as time passed, he could make out voices. He began walking up the corridor and after a few turns, he could see a circular room. Zack could barely make out two silhouettes in the room, one standing taller than the other. They appeared to be talking to each other.

"So the werewolf problem has been resolved?"

"He cornered Lestrange, and did a considerably amount of damage to her. However, we managed to stun him in time."

There was a slight pause and then the other voice spoke up again. "Will she be alright?"

A commotion from the left side of the chamber caused the two to stop and turn in that direction. Zack shifted himself to get a better view of what caused the commotion and his heart jumped. It was Marcus, approaching the other two. "What have you done to him?" he asked angrily.

The man who spoke first merely shrugged. "He's locked up. Why? You need him for something?"

"I need him alive, Sephiroth," Marcus growled. "I need to get into his world so I can locate Zack."

The second man chuckled lightly. "Your obsession with this Zack character has gone to your head, Marcus," he said rather lazily. "The werewolf is out cold at the moment."

Marcus smiled. "Good. Let me know when he wakes." He turned and left, leaving Sephiroth and the other man alone. Zack crouched down and slowly approached the room.

The second man began walking after Marcus. "You'll have to forgive me, Sephiroth, but duty calls. I must report to the Lord."

Sephiroth bowed his head slightly. "Very well, Lucius. Give my regards to the Dark Lord."

The man named Lucius stalked out of the room, his long black cape billowing after him. Sephiroth turned slightly so that his back was towards Zack. Zack, still crouching, took this opportunity to slowly inch his way into the room, his P-90 pointed at Sephiroth. He held his breath for a couple seconds before Sephiroth turned his head and noticed him.

"So you're still sneaking around here, boy?" Sephiroth asked, his head still turned to Zack. "How unwise of you."

Zack grimaced and stood up. "Damn. Maybe you should've kept your back turned. Sephiroth, is it?"

Sephiroth smiled and turned fully to face Zack. "Seems you've been eavesdropping."

"Where's my brother?!"

"Your brother?" Sephiroth asked, surprised. He turned and looked at one of the prisoner cells. "I suppose he's the werewolf."

"What'd you do to him?" Zack pointed his P-90 at Sephiroth, who merely laughed.

"I haven't done anything to him," he said truthfully. "The wizards found him first."

Zack gave him a confused look. "Wizards? What are you talking about?"

"Wizards," repeated Sephiroth. "On this world, boy. We'll take over your world, as soon as Rufus finishes the preparation."

Zack lowered his P-90 and stared blankly at Sephiroth. "Preparation? You're trying to _invade_ Earth?!"

Sephiroth nodded his head. "That's the idea."

"But how – " Zack stopped midsentence. A noise came behind him and he spun around. He couldn't see anything, but there was something definitely creeping behind him. He inched closer into the room as the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end. "What the hell?" he muttered to himself and then spun back around to face Sephiroth. "Wizards you say?"

"Indeed," came a voice behind Zack.

Zack spun around again, and this time he was greeted by a man with greasy black hair and had sallow toned skin. He was pointing a stick at Zack. "What the hell?!" he managed to yell out before he was hit with a flash of red light and was knocked to the floor unconscious.

"What a fool," muttered the greasy haired man.

"Put him in with the werewolf," Sephiroth said casually. "Rufus should be returning soon, and we'll be able to proceed as planned."

---------

The library had an eerily silence about it. Emma stood by the door staring at the spot where everyone had been standing. Just a few moments ago, her brothers Zack and Jacob, and a couple of Zack's friends, had been standing and talking to each other. After they jumped through the portal, though, everything became quiet.

After a moment of silence, Emma shook her head as she remembered what she stayed behind for. She needed to find her sister, Lilly. Not knowing where to start first, Emma decided to take Zack's car over to the middle school where someone might know where she is. She stepped outside the library and a slight breeze caught her ponytail. There wasn't a soul anywhere on the school grounds as she headed to the parking lot. The place appeared abandoned.

Emma reached Zack's car and reached forward to open the door and then stopped. She caught movement in the corner of her eye and she turned. "Just the wind, Emma," she said to herself. "Probably a tumbleweed."

She opened the car door and climbed into the driver's seat. Still eyeing the spot where she thought she saw something, she put the key into the ignition, but didn't turn it. Emma sat in silence for a few minutes before she shook her head and reached to crank the ignition. She turned her head and a figure standing in front of the vehicle made her jump.

"Jesus!" she cried out, her heart jumping. It was a young boy, not very older than she was. He was just standing there, staring at her. Emma drew deep breaths trying to calm herself down from the sudden shock. She slowly edged her way out of the car, making sure she still had the keys. "C-can I help y-you?" she stuttered. The boy made no movement.

"Who are you?" she asked, in a more firm voice. She took this time to study the boy. He had untidy black hair, round glasses, and green eyes. The feature that stood out the most, however, was a lightning shaped scar on the boy's forehead. Emma stared at him and then slammed the car door as hard as she could. The boy finally jumped.

"Y-yes?" He appeared to be distracted.

"Who are you?" Emma repeated. She hated asking the same question twice. "I've never seen you around here before."

"I'm…I'm…" The boy was at a lost for words. His eyes kept darting from Emma and to something in the distance. Emma chanced a glance over her shoulder, but couldn't see anything.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

The boy held out his arm and pointed. Emma followed his hand and squinted, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see anything. "Are you on something? There's nothing out there!" Emma said.

"Just wait…"

Emma sighed heavily and put her hands on her hips. Whatever this boy was looking at, she couldn't see it. She looked around to make sure no one else was watching them, but the parking lot was empty. And then something appeared in the sky: a black dot. Emma watched it carefully as it grew bigger and bigger. It didn't take much convincing to know that that was nothing friendly nor ordinary. "Get in the car," she ordered.

The boy looked at Emma. "What?"

"The car," she repeated, opening the driver door. "Now."

The boy appeared confused, but walked over to the passenger side and climbed in. He looked at Emma. "Where are we going?"

"Away from here," replied Emma as the car roared to life. She threw the car into gear and they drove away from the school. Emma looked over at the boy. "What's your name?"

"Harry."

"Well, Harry, I haven't seen you at school before."

"That's because I'm not from around here."

"Obviously not," Emma said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Where did you come from?"

"Not from around here."

Emma scoffed. "Really?"

Harry looked at Emma. "Really. A different world."

Emma suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing the tires to lock up and squeal. "You're from a different _world_?!" Emma exclaimed.

Harry nodded his head slowly. "I'm a wizard in my world," he explained. "But recent events caused some kind of…well, I'm not exactly sure what happened. You see, our kind are in a war."

"War…?" breathed Emma. "With who?"

"With ourselves. Or more like dark wizards."

Emma's mouth fell open. "Not only are there _wizards_ but there's _dark wizards_?"

Harry nodded his head again. There was a moment of silence between the two and the Emma realized she had stopped in the middle of the road. A car honked its horn behind them and that drew Emma back to reality. Shaking her head, she began driving again. "Do you know what's causing this disappearance?" she asked.

"'Fraid not," Harry replied, peering out the window as buildings passed. "But from what I can tell, it's only happening at your school."

"How long you've been here?" Emma asked curiously.

Harry shrugged. "Couple days at the most. As far as I know, I'm the only one here. You see, we discovered a type of artifact…a big, ring-like structure. We only figured out how to use it when Voldemort showed up…"

"Uhh, Volde…who?"

"Voldemort," Harry repeated. "He's the leader of the dark wizards. I happened to be at the ring when they figured out how to operate it. A great blue wave appeared when you pushed a certain order of symbols on a pedestal."

Emma suddenly remembered Justin explaining how to operate the remote Zack found from Marsilio. "It's a Stargate," Emma said slowly.

"Star…gate?" Harry repeated. The two were deep in thought for a few moments and then Harry snapped his fingers. "Of course!" he suddenly exclaimed, causing Emma to jump. "Stargate! That ring transported me to a different world! It's a gate!"

It was only then that Emma suddenly realized Harry's accent was different. "Your accent," she said, changing the subject. "You're from England?"

"Caught on, have you?" Harry asked. Emma shot a glare at him, only to see him grinning.

"Here we are," Emma said, turning the car into a parking lot. "Looking for my sister, she goes to this school here."

"Doesn't look like this school has been affected by the disappearance," Harry said observantly.

"Should make things easier," Emma replied. "You stay here, should take a few minutes." She glanced down at the clock. It was two o'clock. "Give me fifteen minutes. If I'm not back, head for that building right there." She pointed to a building on the right side of the parking lot. "That's the main office."

Harry nodded his head. "Got it."

Emma opened the door and climbed out, taking the keys with her.

---------

Zack stirred and rolled over. The floor was a bit rocky than he remembered, and then he opened his eyes to see Jacob pacing the room. He could tell the werewolf transformations have been taking a toll on his body as his face was as rugged as ever, and he had scars all over his body, possibly due to the recent battle he fought. "Thought you had turned into a werewolf," Zack said slowly.

Jacob stopped pacing and turned to look at Zack. "'Bout time you woke up."

Zack shook his head and sat up. "What happened?"

"You were taken prisoner," Jacob simply said.

"Obviously," Zack replied, rolling his eyes. "I heard you attacked someone?"

Jacob shrugged. "Must have. Don't remember a thing. Apparently they're pissed about it. I heard 'em talking about killing me, but Marcus is apparently vouching for me."

Zack nodded his head. "Yeah, he wants you alive. He wants the location of Earth."

Jacob laughed. "Location of Earth? You and I both know that we don't even know how to get back to Earth!"

"Well, I couldn't just leave you here," Zack replied, finally standing up. He looked around the room, although there wasn't anything interesting about it. Aside from the single bench on the wall, they were in a prisoner cell.

"So what's the plan?"

Zack shrugged. "Didn't have one. I'm making things up as I go."

Jacob laughed again and then turned to look outside the cell. There was two men standing in the center of the room talking to each other. One had greasy black hair, while the other had long, silver hair. Both were wearing black robes. "Wonder where these guys came from?" he wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but I think they may have some kind of special powers," Zack said. Jacob looked at him with a raised brow. "Well, the black haired guy stuck like a…a stick or something in my face. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in here."

On the far end of the room, a door opened and a man with red-orange hair stepped in. He wore a black suit and appeared to have a better taste in clothing than the other two men in the room. "The president would like to see the prisoners now," the man said. The man with the white hair nodded his head and turned to his companion.

"You heard him, Severus," he said, as the red haired man closed the door. With much reluctance, the black haired man, Severus, scowled as he approached the prisoner cell.

"Now's our chance," Jacob whispered. "We take him and the other guy out, and we get our weapons, and get out of here."

"Do you know where they took our weapons?" Zack whispered back as he approached Jacob.

"I have an idea," Jacob replied slyly.

Severus was on the other side of the door. "The werewolf first," he said.

"For?"

"Just get over here," demanded Severus. "You and your little friend are going for a walk."

Jacob strolled over to the door as Severus opened it. Zack ran up beside him, but Severus suddenly held up his stick weapon at him. "Don't move, boy!" warned Severus. Zack stared at the stick as it was pointed at his face. "Make one wrong move, and I assure you, you won't be going back to your precious little Earth."

"Where are we going?" Jacob asked, taking a step forward. Severus suddenly spun and stuck his weapon in Jacob's face. Jacob let out a growl and he grabbed Severus's arm and spun him around, throwing him into the cell. Zack took a step back. This happened so fast, he barely had time to react. He saw Severus fly into the cell with them and he hit the wall with so much force, he was knocked out. He turned back to the door, but Jacob was gone.

"Jacob!" Zack cried out. He ran towards the door and looked out. Jacob had already attacked the other man, who was sprawled out on the floor. Zack ran out to examine the body. "Where'd you go, Jake?" he asked, looking around. "Never seen you move so quickly…"

He looked down on the man, and suddenly remembered the man's name. "This is Sephiroth…this is the man Justin saw in the library!"

"What do you mean?" Jacob asked, causing Zack to jump.

"Where'd you come from?!"

Jacob eyed Zack carefully and looked around the room. "I was just getting your gear for you," he said slowly.

Zack stared at Jacob curiously as he was handed his P-90. "How'd you…?"

"Werewolf reflexes," Jacob replied casually. "Never believed it myself. Thought I'd have to be in the form itself to move so quickly."

"Weird," Zack replied. "Let's move this guy into our cell."

Jacob picked up Sephiroth and the two headed back into their cell. Jacob threw Sephiroth on the bench as Zack bent down to examine Severus. "Here, you might want this," he said, tossing Jacob the stick weapon and a set of keys.

"C'mon, let's get out of here before the man in the black suit comes!" Jacob said, walking out of the cell.

Zack looked down at Severus. "I don't suppose he isn't dead…" he mumbled to himself. Feeling unsure, he reached out to check his pulse. As soon as his hand made contact with skin, his mind exploded with pain and flashes of images. Zack suddenly fell over and hit his head against the wall.

* * *

**A/N:** I am currently working on a chapter that will explain Shinra's bigger involvement in the plot, but for now, this is completely up-to-date. More to come soon!


	11. The Plan

**_A/N: _**Okay I know it's been FOREVER since I last updated (couple years at least) but that doesn't mean I've stopped! I got two chapters up and ready for y'all! President Rufus begins his "plan" to invade Earth...

* * *

_**The Dragon's Orb**_

_The Plan_

"Mr. President, the delegation has arrived."

The President looked over his desk. "And you've set up all necessary precautions we've discussed?"

The man nodded his head quickly. "Yes sir. Everything is in place, they will have no idea."

President Rufus Shinra actually smiled. It took months of preparation for this moment. After discovering an ancient artifact, Rufus had begun a new operation. If he couldn't get the Promised Land, then he would turn to different worlds. With this device, he can control more than he dreamed. A gateway to a different Realm.

"Excellent work, Biggs," Rufus said with a wave of his hand. "I shall meet you in a few minutes, I have work to finish."

"Yes, Mr. President," Biggs said as he nodded curtly, and turned to leave.

How was it that this device could just randomly land right into Shinra's hands? Rufus had a team spying on Cloud Strife for the past few months, and just recently, it was noted that a group of unusual teenagers arrived at his villa. When this was reported to him, Rufus began putting all resources into researching a way to find different worlds or alternate realities.

Last month they discovered the artifact, a huge ring that, when properly activated, lead you to a different world. After putting his best scientific minds to work, it wasn't long before they figured out how to use the ring. Rufus remembered clearly the first time they had activated the ring. He sent a group through the portal, a team of scientists and soldiers. It clearly wasn't the best idea he had since.

"I will rue the day I ever relinquish my reign," he murmured to himself. After the team came back, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. However, over time, the same people kept trying to infiltrate the more secure places in Shinra that they weren't allowed because of security access. After several brain scans, nothing seemed out of place. Rufus had them executed.

It was a regretful decision, but he couldn't allow them to access the deeper secrets of Shinra. Rufus chuckled to himself. "As if the ring was bad enough," he said. The ring had been classified highly secret in the Shinra company, however, there were more experiments and branches that were classified an even higher clearance.

He looked at the clock. Ten after five. Almost time to go. What lay beyond the portal? Indeed, it was another world. A world of magic and beasts. A perfect place to extract Mako energy from. However, the inhabitants were not pleased with their presence. Just recently, the portal opened, by itself, and three hooded figures stepped through. One called himself a "Dark Lord", while the others apparently served him.

Immediately, he lost several soldiers in a fight to this "Dark Lord". Flashes of green light came from what looked like sticks, and then dead bodies littered the ground. It came apparent that these individuals knew magic. Rufus's highest in command at the time, Eragon, called for a cease fire and negotiations began taking place.

Rufus stood up from his desk and began walking towards the stairs. At that moment, a tall, scruffy looking man approached him. His eyes, glowing blue with the Mako treatment that all SOLDIER members receive, looked sincerely at the president. It was obvious that something was bothering him, but Rufus overlooked this.

"Are they here, Eragon?" Rufus asked.

Eragon nodded. "Yes. The Dark Lord is here."

"How many times have I told you not to call him that?" Rufus said angrily. He began walking down the stairs. His hand went inside his white trench coat, and his fingers closed over the stock of his shotgun. "I went through all the troubles getting ready for this meeting, Eragon."

"Yes, sir."

Rufus stopped and turned to Eragon. "Don't fail me now," he said, his eyes piercing through the older man's glowing eyes. "If all goes according to plan, we will have a new world to explore and build reactors."

Eragon swallowed. "Sir…is this really necessary?"

"Eragon, was this war with AVALANCE necessary? Was blowing up Sector 7 necessary? Of course it was, for Shinra's good wealth and nature!"

"We don't even know if this will work with this…whatever his name is," Eragon replied uneasily. "He's supposedly more powerful than the test subject we had!"

Rufus spun around and they began heading down the stairs again. "If you've done all the modifications correctly, than it should work. You had Hojo working on this, right?"

Eragon nodded his head. "That's right."

"Then we shall see."

Rufus and Eragon entered the nearest elevator and headed down. Seeing as the Shinra building was sixty plus stories high, Rufus decided to go underground. It was easier to hide the artifact ring.

The elevator doors opened and they were five floors beneath the lobby. Following the hallway down a few corridors, the president and Eragon came upon a sealed entryway. Eragon approached the control panel next to the entryway and input his security code. A few moments later, they were standing in the room with the ring and three men in black cloaks greeted them upon entry.

"President Rufus Shinra," said the man in the middle. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

Rufus took note that nobody was dead yet. The two others that accompanied this man stood a few feet back from him. "You must be what everyone calls the Dark Lord," Rufus said uninterestingly. The Dark Lord was taller than himself and was looking upon him with his snake-like eyes. His hand was clutching something, and Rufus immediately knew that this was his weapon, a wand of sort.

"That's what they call me," the man said. His eyes seemed to dart from person to person, as if trying to size each one of them up. "However, those brave enough call me Voldemort."

"Forgive me, but I can't afford to let the same thing happen as before," Rufus said quickly. "So, shall we discuss what you have to offer me over dinner?"

Voldemort looked at Rufus, his eyes narrowed. "I had no idea I was to offer you anything."

Rufus wasn't surprised. He scowled back at Voldemort. "Really?"

The two glared at each other for a long, tense moment. Finally, Voldemort began to laugh. "Really, Rufus, you expect me to give myself up so easily? No one can defeat me!"

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "Well I wasn't – "

Voldemort raised his wand at Rufus. "Kill them all!" he cried out.

Rufus glanced at Eragon, who returned the look with a curt nod. "It's time," Rufus said. There was an outcry from one of the robed men. They looked to see all three crying out in pain.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" screamed Voldemort.

"Let's just say it's a device that dampens all magic around this building," Eragon explained. "We needed someone to test it on before we could bring it into your world. Our plan is to harvest your world for Mako energy without the interference from AVALANCHE."

Rufus turned to a red-orange haired man standing next to him. "Reno, take these men to the prisoner cells. Make sure someone is guarding them at all times, and I want at least one Turk supervising them as well."

Reno nodded his head and then snapped his fingers. Two other Turks appeared, all wearing black suits, and grabbed the wizards.

"You'll pay for this, Rufus!" Voldemort cried out. "I'll have every witch and wizard out looking for you! I'll have my revenge! I always do!"

Rufus yawned and then turned to leave, ignoring Voldemort's cries. "Yes, I suppose you can have every witch and wizard out hunting me. I'll be prepared, however, and I will not hesitate to kill any of them."

Emma returned to the vehicle with Lilly. "Who's that in the car?" Lilly asked as they approached the car.

"Oh, that's uh…a friend," Emma quickly said. "C'mon, I'll explain in the car."

The two climbed into the vehicle and Lilly automatically asked, "Who are you?"

Harry turned around in his seat. "I'm Harry," he replied casually.

Lilly's eyes flickered up to his forehead and saw a lightning bolt shaped scar. "Really? You're not one of those weirdoes pretending to be Harry Potter?"

"Lilly, shut up," Emma said suddenly. "He _is_ Harry, okay? Just…I still don't really understand how he came here."

Harry sighed. "Voldemort, the dark wizard in my world, discovered an artifact not too long ago. A big ring, you know? Leads to different worlds, you see. Once the Order caught wind of this, everything went in an uproar.

"They say people came through it. I don't know what the Death Eaters did to them, but from what I heard, he had 'em killed. Next thing we know, Voldemort himself is getting invited to some off-world meeting for who knows what. That's when we struck.

"The Order drove away most of the Death Eaters. Those that survived were locked away for the Ministry to take care of."

"How'd you get into our world?" Emma asked.

"One of the Death Eaters gave us coordinates."

"And you ended up here?" Harry nodded. "Well, sorry to ruin your day, kid, but no dark wizard has appeared around here," Emma said nervously. She glanced out the window, half-expecting to see black robed men approaching the vehicle.

"Where, exactly?" Lilly asked. "If you guys have a ring that acts like a gateway, wouldn't that lead to another ring on this world?"

"Yeah, it's underneath your school," Harry said casually. Emma and Lilly exchanged glances. "I was a little surprised, too, when the people there had a similar experience."

"Similar experience?" Emma asked. "Were they chasing dark wizards too?"

Harry shook his head. "No, no that's not what I meant. I mean, they walked through the ring and ended up there. And they made it sound like they do it on a daily basis!"

"I think we should check it out," Lilly said, looking at her sister for approval. Emma shrugged her shoulders. "Aw, c'mon! It's a start, you know? We can figure out why Harry is here and why there's a big ring underneath the school!"

Emma sighed. "All these weird things started happening when Zack disappeared," she mumbled to herself as she started the car. "Alright, we'll check out this…ring. If it turns out what I think it is, we're in more trouble than I imagined."

"What were you thinking back there?"

"Look, all I wanted to do is find out if he was still alive! Don't go blaming me for something I can't control, okay?"

Jacob growled at his brother. "Would you stop being so damn sentimental all the time? It's times like these when you need to start thinking about yourself!"

Zack scowled at Jacob. This wouldn't be the first time they've argued, and sometimes they would get physical. Zack remembered last time they had a scuffle, and he ended up with a dislocated shoulder. "Something happened when I touched him, Jake. I don't know what happened, but I saw things. It was like his life."

Jacob eyed Zack curiously. "That's strange," he said, his tone changed completely. He did not have the sound of a vicious werewolf waiting to have dinner. "What did you see?"

"Nothing interesting," Zack replied with a shrug. "I do know that he came from a different world…a wizarding world, actually."

"Wizard?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah, you know…magic."

"Oh, really?" Jacob said with a smirk. "Is there anything in his head that could lead us back to Earth?"

Zack thought for a minute and then slowly nodded his head. "Yes, he had the correct set of symbols for Earth."

There was a long pause as Jacob and Zack stared at each other. "Do you think we should worry that he has that kind of information?" Jacob asked at last.

Zack shrugged. "Don't know. He must've been someone of importance, however, seeing as he had this information." He suddenly held up a stick that was used to knock him out. "I even managed to steal his wand."

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Wand? They use wands to conjure magic? That would explain a few things. Did you manage to take his wallet?"

Zack ignored his question and took out the remote control. "Okay, it's time to get back to Earth," he said.

"Wait, what about Marcus and Carlos?" Jacob asked, holding out a hand to stop Zack from pushing any buttons. "I thought you were looking for them?"

"By now, they probably discovered we escaped," Zack replied, glancing around. They appeared to still be in the cave system, but he had no idea where. "So, they're all looking for us. On top of that, there is an even bigger plan."

"What are you talking about? What plan?" Jacob asked angrily. "Look, we have a chance to find and take out Marcus for good! Now is the chance to do it!"

Zack stared at Jacob. "Hey, why don't you lighten up? There is only two of us, and several hundred of them! Not to mention that these wizard people are pretty damn pissed about something! If you want to go charging in at them, so be it. I'll tell mom and dad you decided to stay after all."

Jacob glared at Zack. His lip kept twitching, as if he wanted to say something, but he kept quiet. Zack pushed him out of the way and began pushing buttons on the remote. "So, if we go back to Earth, what would happen here?" Jacob asked.

Zack shrugged. "There's a Stargate here. They won't stay here long. They're planning on invading Earth."

Jacob crossed his arms over his chest. "And you're sure that's they're plan?"

Zack nodded his head. "Oh yeah. I'm sure."


	12. Secret of the Orb I

**_A/N: _**A two-part chapter series (maybe three if I'm feeling rambunctious) explaining what is the big deal with this Orb and what happens to it.

* * *

_**The Dragon's Orb**_

_Secret of the Orb  
Part I_

Despite all the security precautions in effect, despite all the guards standing around in the hallways, the young teen had managed to slip by and make his way all the way up to the President's office. He walked in, without knocking, without announcing his presence, he walked right up to the President's desk, and slammed his fist down.

"Rufus! We gotta talk!" he spat angrily. Rufus looked up from his chair at the young teen. "I thought we agreed you'd leave the werewolf to me! Why are those whatchamacallit wizards going after him?"

Rufus stared at the boy with a cold look. "I don't know what you're talking about," he simply said.

Marcus scowled at Rufus and slammed his fist on the desk again, this time, making it crack. "Jacob and Zack are supposed to be my responsibility," he said calmly. He looked around and then pulled up a chair to sit down.

"And I can't have a werewolf running around killing my people," Rufus replied. "We already have one witch out of the picture because of him."

"So you did know!" Marcus said. "Why did you – "

Rufus held up a hand to stop him. "However, if you cannot keep up with your responsibility, I'm afraid I'll have to cut you from this Alliance. I expect better of you, boy."

Marcus gaped at the President. "I was preoccupied at the time, thank you very much! I can handle the responsibility!"

Rufus sat back in his chair and folded his hands on the desk. "Then tell me, how is your progress coming along with the search for the orb?"

"The orb has been taken to Earth," Marcus quickly said. "Rob made sure of that."

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "Rob?"

Marcus sighed and then shrugged his shoulders. "He's this annoying…know-it-all."

Rufus smirked. He turned back to his computer and began searching for something. "You know what I think?" he asked, not looking up from the computer, and without letting Marcus answer, he went on. "I think it's time we execute our plan."

Marcus gave the President a confused look. "What plan? I wasn't informed of any plan!"

Rufus merely looked at Marcus and said, "That's because you are not important enough."

"And you really trust the others over me?"

"It's not a matter of who I trust, it's who can get the job done in a timely fashion," Rufus replied coldly. "And seeing as your attempt to capture the two brothers didn't go so well…"

Marcus stood up and put his hands on the desk. "Don't you judge me about what I can and can't do, Rufus," he said angrily. "If it's quality you want, _fine_!"

Marcus turned and stormed out of the room, pushing a guard as he went. Rufus glared at the door for a moment and then picked up the phone. "Eragon, come to my office right now. I think a change of plans is in order."

As Emma, Lilly, and Harry approached the school in their vehicle, one thing was for certain: something had changed. As Emma drove up to the entrance of the parking lot, a soldier approached them with a raised hand, indicating them to stop.

"They got here quick," Emma said more to herself than the other two. She lowered the window as the soldier approached them.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but I'm going to have to ask you to turn this vehicle around," the soldier said in an authoritative voice.

"Why? I go to school here. Why is the Army interested in my school?" Emma asked angrily.

"Not Army, ma'am. Air Force."

Emma smirked. "Army, Air Force…what's the difference? Now c'mon, I just wanna get some stuff from my locker."

The Airman shook his head. "School's out. Turn around, go home."

"Can you get us O'Neill?" Harry suddenly asked. Emma and Lilly both looked at him with a confused look.

The Airman looked at Harry. "How do you know Colonel O'Neill?"

"Look, it's a long story, but they know me. I'm Harry."

"Harry? Well, sorry Harry, but if we let you through, then we'd have to let every Harry that comes across this installation through, and that just wouldn't be good for business."

At that moment, another man suddenly came running at them. "Airman Miller! Let them through!" he yelled. "Orders from the Colonel himself!"

Airman Miller scowled as he waved Emma through. He straightened up and looked at the other man. "Orders from the Colonel? What's going on Sergeant Wolfe?"

The Sergeant appeared breathless from the run from the building to the gate. "Colonel said to let them in," Wolfe said, catching his breath. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Continue manning the post."

Miller nodded his head as Wolfe approached Emma's vehicle. "Sorry about that," he said to her. "We had to set up a secure perimeter to keep civilians out of our business."

"What business would that be?" Lilly demanded. "My sister is getting very angry with you guys!"

Emma turned around in her seat. "Lilly, I'm gonna ask you this only once. Shut up."

Lilly sat back, crossed her arms over her chest, and pouted, "That's not a question!"

"Just stay quiet," Emma muttered as she turned around. "Harry here knows this Colonel O'Neill of yours. Can you take us to him?"

Wolfe nodded his head. "That's what I'm here for actually. Follow me."

The three followed Sergeant Wolfe into the building. They walked around a few hallways and then they faced a dead end. Wolfe approached the wall and then took something out of his pocked. He placed it against the wall, something beeped, and then the wall slid open.

"After you," he said, waving the three into the elevator. "We're about to go underground, and what you see from here on out is top secret, which means, don't tell anybody what you see. Including my mother." Lilly giggled at the last comment and Wolfe looked at her with a serious look and she decided to keep quiet for the rest of the trip.

They arrived in a corridor that looked similar to the one they just left. They followed it to the end, turned left, and headed down a set of stairs.

"How far down are we?" Emma asked.

"Several miles underground," Wolfe replied as they rounded another corner and into what appeared to be another dead end. He approached the wall and placed the same object against it. "It's a tad bit chilly."

"I noticed," Emma said, shivering slightly. "Where we going?"

The wall slid open and they filed into the elevator. "Ops," Wolfe replied, pushing a button in the elevator.

The elevator ride didn't seem to take very long, but when the doors opened, everything looked different.

"Believe it or not, it's an old missile complex," Wolfe explained. "Why your school was built over a missile complex is beyond me, but for us, it works out for what we're hiding."

"And that's the Stargate?" Emma asked.

Wolfe stopped and looked at her. "What do you know about the Stargate?"

Emma shrugged. "Just that it takes you to different worlds."

"Yes, well, that's what it would do under normal operations."

"What do you mean?"

"A Stargate is supposed to take you to different worlds within your galaxy. This one…well, it's taking us to different realities. That's how Harry here stumbled upon us."

Emma and Lilly glanced at Harry, who smiled meekly. "We just found out how our works, okay?" he said nervously.

"Doctor Daniel Jackson can explain more," Wolfe replied. He led the three into what looked like a conference room. "He'll be here shortly. I'm going to find the Colonel and tell him you're here."

Wolfe left the room, leaving Emma, Harry, and Lilly alone. Emma and Harry took a seat at the conference table, while Lilly examined the room. "Don't touch anything," Emma warned as Lilly studied a particular device on the far side of the room. She looked over her shoulder and saw Emma and Harry deep in conversation, and then she turned back and reached out.

"Don't even think about it!" yelled a voice that startled all three. Lilly jumped and turned. A man carrying several folders under his arm and a mug of steaming coffee came walking briskly into the room. He threw the documents on the table and set his coffee down gently. He scowled at Lilly and pointed to a seat next to Harry. "Sit," he ordered.

Lilly quickly sat in the chair. She didn't want to upset the man more than he already was. "I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson," the man said quickly. "I'm sure by now you're wondering why you're here."

"We know about the Stargate," Emma said. Daniel looked at her and then let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Really? Oh, thank God!" He picked up half of the documents and set them on the floor, leaving only three folders. He passed one around to the three. "Ok, as Robert have already told you of the situation with the Stargate here, than this should be quick."

"Don't bore them, Daniel," came a lazy voice from the door. Everyone turned to see another man standing in the doorway.

"Wasn't planning on it, Jack," Daniel replied. "This is Colonel O'Neill, by the way," he added to the other three. "They know about the Stargate, Jack."

"Don't let me stop you," O'Neill said with a smirk. He walked in and sat down at the end of the table.

"Okay, the three folders I handed to you include some very top secret information. Pretty much, in a nutshell, we've received some intel that suggests that this Earth is going to be invaded."

Emma's heart jumped and she gasped. "What? By who?"

"Uhh…" Daniel looked around the table, apparently trying to figure out which folder contained that information. He grabbed Harry's folder and opened it. "Ah yes, here we go. This file is all about this Shinra Incorporation. Obviously not from this Earth, however, with the way the Stargate system is, it is possible that they will be mounting a full scale attack here."

"Why would they attack us?" Lilly asked, opening her folder and glancing at the first piece of paper.

"Not sure, but our latest intel said that originally, they were going to go after Harry's world first."

Emma glanced at Harry, who didn't seem affected by this bit of information. "Are they coming after him? Do they know he's here?" she asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, they don't. The Death Eater who gave me the information to this place obviously gave me the wrong address. He probably didn't know where Voldemort was going in the first place."

Emma glanced at Daniel and then at O'Neill. "That still means they know this address from someone."

"We have reason to believe those Death Eaters are working with Shinra," O'Neill said.

"Hey I've seen this guy somewhere!" Lilly suddenly cried out. Everyone looked at her as she held up a picture of a man in a black cape. He had long, flowing silver hair and carried a long sword.

"That man seems to be on Shinra's side," Daniel explained.

Lilly flipped through the rest of her folder, pulling out information on people. "So all these people work with Shinra?" she asked.

Daniel nodded his head. "Yes. They all work for a President Rufus Shinra."

O'Neill suddenly stood up. "Daniel, why don't we show them."

Daniel looked carefully at O'Neill. "Show them…? Oh yes!" He turned to Emma. "I think there's something you ought to see."

The three were taken to another part of the missile complex. This part resembled several holding cells. Daniel approached one of the doors and then turned to the group. "Okay, in here we have retrieved an artifact unknown to us," he said as if lecturing a group of school kids on a field trip.

"Where did you find the artifact?" Lilly asked, her hand raised.

"We had a group of people suddenly appear out of nowhere within our gate room," Daniel explained. "A man named Rob told us to keep it locked up."

"And you're telling us this, why?" Emma asked.

Daniel looked at O'Neill, who nodded his head, and then opened the door. The room was about the same size as the conference room, except for the dull grey walls and lack of decorations. There were several people standing around who stopped talking suddenly when the door opened.

"Emma? Lilly? Is that you?"

"Mom? Dad? What are you guys doing here?" Emma asked, looking at Daniel and O'Neill and then at her parents.

"Have you seen Zack or Jacob?" asked Mrs. Scott. "Zack stayed behind to find Jacob, you see…"

"What are you talking about, Mom?" Lilly asked. "Where's Zack and Jake?"

Justin approached Daniel. "Look, there's no need to keep us here," he said. "At least, not the parents."

"Don't worry, we're letting them go today," Daniel replied. "We need to get you and the two other girls up to the briefing room, though."

"C'mon, let's go get this sorted out," O'Neill said impatiently. "Shinra's out there and about to strike anytime. We can't wait for anyone to come back or to go searching for 'em."

Daniel quickly scooped up the artifact and followed everyone out of the room and up to the briefing room.

There was no warning. There was no sound. Nothing prepared for what came in the gate room. A blue portal appeared out of nowhere and all the guards, casting nervous glances at each other, pointed their weapons at it. Then two bodies fell out of the portal onto the hard floor. The guards quickly surrounded the two, keeping their weapons trained on them.

"Zack, you sure have a knack for trying to get us killed," one of them groaned as he rolled over and saw all the guns pointing at them. He held up his hands. "I come in peace, don't worry."

"Get the Colonel!" Zack heard one of the guards yell. He groaned, but didn't move. If these guys really wanted them dead, they would've been dead already.

"Jake, this doesn't look like the library we left from," Zack said.

"Is this Earth?" Jacob asked.

"It is," came a voice from the door. "Get back to your posts," he added to the guards.

Zack and Jacob slowly stood up and turned to the Colonel. "I sure don't remember this being here," Zack said to the Colonel.

"You probably won't," O'Neill replied. "We're having a briefing right now, I think it'd be best if you come with me right away."

Jacob and Zack exchanged glances and then followed the Colonel up to the conference room.

"Jake! Zack! You're alive!"

"Are you alright?"

Zack held up his hands to stop the barrage of questions. "Look, we'll answer questions later," he quickly said. "From the sounds of things, we've got some problems."

A short, bald man stood at the front of the room. He had a stoic look upon his face, but when he spoke, it was in a soft voice, "Glad you can join us, Zack. We began to worry if you'd ever come back. I'm General Hammond, the one in charge of this facility."

Zack nodded his head and sat down next to Justin. "Where are we?" he asked.

"We are several miles underneath your high school," Hammond replied. "However, we have more pressing matters at hand, so you'll have to pardon my bluntness when I say to save your questions for another time.

"As of 0300 this morning, we received specific intel of an invasion of Earth. The one behind all this, Shinra, is amassing their troops as we speak. We need every able person to defend this facility at all costs. We believe that they are allied with several other forces from different worlds, the main one being a group calling themselves Death Eaters." He then indicated Harry. "Harry, here, is our resident expert on this."

Harry nodded his head and gave Zack a slight wave. Justin leaned over to Zack and whispered, "When you get the chance, I want my gun back. They've got a good stock here."

Zack gave Justin a confused look and then nodded his head. Hammond continued with his speech. "Our Stargate is the only way they'll be coming here, so most of our defense will be in the gate room and in the surrounding corridors. SG-1 will be in charge of the whole operation…" Hammond turned to the wall, where a schematic of the facility was projected. He pointed at the northern part of the map. "This area is where the armory, the science labs, and medical bay are located. Doctor Jackson and Staff Sergeant Wolfe will be in charge of that sector.

"Teal'c and Major Carter will have this sector here…" Hammond pointed at another section of the map. "…this is the elevator that leads up to the school. We don't want anyone breaking through here.

"Colonel O'Neill, you'll be in the gate room. Protect our assets at all costs, people. We can't afford any loses."

"There's one thing you should know about the Death Eaters," Harry suddenly said, standing up. Everyone turned their attention to him. "We're all wizards and witches, so we cast spells using our wands. The Death Eaters will not hesitate to kill or cause great pain. The Killing Curse is the most deadly, and nothing will protect you from it."

"Unless you take cover," Carter said from her seat. There was a moment of silence and then she said, "I'm just saying…"

"Anybody else have anything?" Hammond asked. When no one spoke up, he nodded his head. "Okay. We don't know how long it'll be…it can be any time, but the main thing is, stay focused out there. Godspeed and dismissed."

Zack stood up from his chair when a hand suddenly grabbed his arm. "Can I talk with you?" It was Daniel. Zack nodded his head and they walked into the General's office. "What do you know about the Dragon's Orb?"

Several images suddenly appeared in Zack's mind: Marsilio, his parents, Bane's tattoo, a dragon, Andi, Marcus, and an orb. He looked at Daniel and said, "Well, to tell you the truth, not a whole lot. I do know Marcus is looking for it."

"Who's Marcus?"

"He's another person we met in a different world," Zack explained. "It was weird, it was like being in an alternate universe, you know? He looked like the Marcus from this world, but acted totally different. And he said something about my parents being dead."

"Well, your parents are safe," Daniel said reassuringly. We kept everyone together so they'd be here when you get back. Don't want to go through the trouble of trying to find them you know?"

"Where are my parents then?" Zack asked curiously.

Daniel grimaced. "Oh…we just had them sent home right before you appeared…sorry…"

Zack sighed. "I knew it. How do I know you're even telling me the truth?"

"Because I seen them," came a voice from the doorway. Zack turned and noticed his sister standing there.

"And how long have you been eavesdropping, Emma?" Zack asked.

"I just…never mind that, Zack," Emma said. "Trust these guys, they'll help you out a lot."

"What were you saying about the Dragon's Orb?" Zack asked Daniel.

"Someone dropped off an artifact with your friends. A man named Rob." Zack's eyes widened. "I take it you know him?"

"That son-of-a-bitch left me to die! Of course I know him!"

"He also saved your friends."

Zack suddenly slapped himself on the head. "Of course! Right before he left, he said the orb contained the Ten Wise Men! That's what Marsilio is after! His friends! How could I have forgotten?"

Daniel and Emma stared at Zack for a second. "What are you talking about?" asked Emma.

"Daniel, where's the orb located at?"

"It's in one of the holding cells," Daniel said slowly. "Why?"

Zack snapped his fingers. "Take it to one of your labs! If that thing contains the Ten Wise Men, then there's got to be a way to like…keep it from falling into Marsilio's hands."

"Follow me," Daniel said to the two as he left the office.

Rufus looked out the window from his office. The slums below didn't provide much of a scene, but he liked looking out the window, as it helped him think things over. He was about to execute the biggest invasion Shinra done in years. He smirked at himself as he continued staring at Sector 5 Slums.

There was a knock at the door, and Rufus responded, "Enter."

A tall man entered the office, closing the door behind him. "Sir, we're ready," he said.

"Excellent, Eragon," Rufus replied. "Let's take a moment and celebrate our foreseen victory, shall we?" He moved over to his desk, but Eragon shook his head.

"Don't you think we're celebrating a little early?" he asked.

Rufus laughed. "Eragon, you are my top SOLDIER…"

"You're forgetting Sephiroth, sir."

Rufus waved his hand in the air, as if trying to swat a fly. "Yes, yes, the great Sephiroth. He's a thing in the past. He may be helping me now, but I don't expect him to hang around much longer."

Eragon began to speak, but before he could, the door burst open and Marcus marched in, ignoring Eragon's scowl. He strode right up to Rufus's desk and stared at him.

"Yes?" Rufus asked, clearly annoyed by this intrusion.

"Let me go in first," Marcus said. "I can deactivate their shield with my remote."

Rufus smiled thoughtfully. "Well, I had already entrusted Eragon to do that job," he said. "What makes you better?"

"With the remote, I can appear in their gate room, right? I won't have to go through the gate. Give me…say, about ten…maybe fifteen minutes tops. Once I'm on the other side, I'll use the remote to make a connection through the Stargate back here, which will be your signal to move."

Rufus nodded his head in agreement. "Sounds reasonable. And what will this signal be?"

"You'll know," Marcus replied. He turned and headed for the door. He paused and looked at Eragon, who was shaking with anger. "Oh, don't worry Eragon. If you went, you wouldn't last very long against those guards."

"And what makes you so special?" Eragon asked.

Marcus smiled and then left the room. Eragon scowled as the door shut. "Sir, you don't expect him to get the job done, do you? After what happened with the prisoners on the other world?"

Rufus sat down in his chair and folded his hands over the desk. "Eragon, he is right about one thing. You wouldn't last very long with all those guards. He is Immortal after all."

"He is a _boy_! He is no Immortal!"

"I have made my decision! Remember that I have the power to make your life miserable! Don't tempt me to throw you out!"

Eragon's lip twitched and then he turned and stormed out of the office. Rufus leaned back in his seat. He looked over at his computer and then picked up the phone and dialed a number. "It's time," he said once someone picked up on the other end.


End file.
